APA Journalism Prize 2005 goes to "anonymous Bulgarian woman" * Utl.: Honorary guest Kucan: "Highly emotional text" =

VIENNA, November 18 (PROTEXT/ots) - The journalism prizeorganised by APA (Austria Press Agency) and sponsored by BankAustria Creditanstalt (BA-CA) "Writing for Central and EasternEurope" was awarded today to Diana Ivanova from Bulgaria.Honorary guest Milan Kucan, former president of Slovenia, praisedthe article entitled "Frau Bulgarin" ("Bulgarian Woman"), whichwas read aloud at the awards ceremony on Wednesday evening inVienna, as a "highly emotional text". He went on to say that by relating very personal storiesIvanova had captured the atmosphere of the opening up of EasternEurope. Mr. Kucan said no one who had lived in Eastern Europeduring the fall of Communism would be left unmoved by herarticles. Ivanova, he said, had also made her readers aware "thatthe Berlin Wall has still not been completely demolished." Mr. Kucan referred in his speech to the importance of Europeanintegration and spoke out against what he called "attempts todivide Europe into old Europe and new Europe". European history,he said, had led people to realise that "we are united by acommon destiny, we rely on one another and are responsible forone another". Had people not realised this, the central Europeanidentity could never have been regained so quickly after the fallof the Berlin Wall, said Mr. Kucan. It was the second time this year that the award with a prizeof 5,000 euros was conferred. A total of 80 articles by 60authors from twelve countries were entered, as Helmut Bernkopf,General Manager of the CEE Division at BA-CA, said. The declaredgoal of the award is to "to promote European integration andcross-border understanding". Against the background of what wasfor Europe a turbulent 2005, the theme of this year's event was"EU in Crisis - Is Enlargement Over?", as APA foreign politicalchief and jury chairman Ambros Kindel explained. After the sense of a new era in the year of enlargement 2004,he said, the euphoria died down with the rejection of the EUconstitution in France and the Netherlands as the focus shiftedto crisis rhetoric, said APA Editor-in-Chief Michael Lang.Therefore it was, he said, all the more important to overcomeprejudices. The winner convinced the seven-member international jury witha series of articles entitled "Guten Tag Melancholie" ("Hello,Melancholy"). The text "Frau Bulgarin", read at the awardceremony by actor Fritz Friedl, tells of an unknown woman fromBulgaria living in Vienna who symbolises the melancholy offoreigners from the East. Further information and the winning article:http://www.apa.at/cee-award Picture(s) for this report can be obtained from theAOM/Original Bild Service, and in the OTS photo archive athttp://bild.ots.at or directly athttp://www.ots.at/redirect.php?ots1Contact:APA - Austria Presse AgenturAmbros KindelHead of Foreign Politics DeskTel.: +43/1/360 60-1400mailto: ambros.kindel@apa.athttp://www.apa.at/cee-awardBank Austria Creditanstalt (BA-CA)Edith HolzerInternational Press OfficeTel.: +43-50505-57126mailto: edith.holzer@ba-ca.comhttp://www.ba-ca.com

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