Balkanfila - Minute

MINUTES of the 13^th Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group
Meeting at the International Exhibition and Conference Centre of HELEXPO-Thessaloniki International Fair in Thessaloniki, Greece, on occasion of the BALKANFILlA XX Exhitibition, on November 13, 2024 from 9.00-10.00

16 participants from 10 Balkanfila Member Federations attended the Meeting: Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkiye.

Igor Pirc, BWG Secretary, welcomed all present participants and proposed the Agenda, which had been sent out with the Invitation three weeks ago. The Agenda was unanimously accepted.

Agenda and conclusions of the Meeting

1. Confirmation of the Minutes of 12 th Balkanfila Meeting in Bucharest

Minutes of the 12 th Balkanfila Meeting in Bucurest was unanimously accepted.

2. Presentation of the Balkanfila XX Exhibition in Thessaloniki

Those present estimated that BALKANFILA XX in Saloniki is perfectly prepared, set up in spacious and bright halls, and that the organizer put a lot of effort into preparing for the exhibition.

3. Election of the new Balkanfila President
The tradition in the election of the president of the Balkanfila Working Group is that the organizer of the current exhibition takes over the presidency until the next exhibition. On the proposal of Christos Gikas, those present elected Ioannis Refanidis as president.

4. Development of philatelic cooperation among Balkanfila Federations Balkanfila Website, Balkanfila Newsletter and more!

The Balkanfila Newsletter has become an established form of communication among the Balkanfila membership (6 in 16 months). Editor Christos Gikas urged members to contribute more substantively; announcements of frequent new mailings will be in the BF Newsletter supplement in the future.

Francisc Ambrus (Ferry) kindly maintains the Balkanfila Website. The website has many messaging options. On the one hand, it contains basic information about the Balkanfila Working Community, its members (National Federations), and exhibitions to date; however, the possibility of publishing current news from the Balkanfila region is not taken advantage of. Conclusions: The Editorial board of the website (F. Ambrus, Ch. Gikas) and I. Pirc) will prepare a more transparent structure of the branching of areas and provide a home page for news.

BWG members review the data and communicate the necessary updates on the www.balkanfila.eu, and send corrections to the address ipirc711@gmail.com. National coordinators appointed for the Newsletter also take on these tasks. They have been nominated in Belgrade, in 2023:

Christos Gikas for Greece (xgikas@gmail.com),
Mehmet Akan for Turkey (mehmetakan.wordpress.com),
Julian Demeti for Albania (julian.demeti@gmail.com),
Francisc Ambrus for Romania (franambrus@yahoo.com),
Boncho Bonev for Bulgaria (bnb11@abv.bg),
Capt. Slavoljub Katančević for Croatia (katen-sjeme@pu.t-com.hr),
Vladimir Milić for Serbia (vladimir.milich@gmail.com),
Igor Pirc for Slovenia (ipirc711@gmail.com),
Radenko Radanović for BiH (both entities) (radenkoradanovic@gmail.com),

The Greek representative, Christos Gikas, proposed upgrading our cooperation by suggesting that we prepare an edition of the Balkanfila Yearbook. It should present each member's most important contribution to Europe and the world philately. He will justify his proposal and forward it to all members for consideration.

The agreement is that on Wednesday, April 9 at 6 p.m. CET, we will hold a WEBEX video meeting, at which all presidents of the Federations and one more member of the board will be present.

The president of the Albanian Federation, Julian Demeti, proposed (and immediately implemented) a Balkanfila group on WhatsApp. All members are invited to provide him with additional contacts, which will ensure smooth communication.

5 Timetable for future exhibitions

The President of the Serbian Federation, Vladimir Milić, announced the possibility of organizing the XXI Balkanfila exhibition in 2026, as a preparation for the FIP World Exhibition EXPO 2027 in Belgrade.

The President of the Romanian Federation, Ion Chirescu, announced his readiness to organize the XXII Balkanfila in 2027 or 2028.

Both announcements were warmly welcomed, as exhibitions are the most important factor in our cooperation. Final decisions will be communicated with an invitation and IREX in due course.

6. Miscelaneus

Next Balkanfila Meeting will be at the time of the XXI BWG Exhibition in Belgrade. A round table on the future of philately took place in parallel with the exhibition

Minutes prepared by Secretary Igor Pirc

MINUTES of the 12^th Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group
Bucharest, Museum of Romanian Records, Amphiteatre, April 19^th, 2024, at 16.30

1. Confirmation of the Minutes of 12 th Balkanfila Meeting in Belgrade
2. Presentation of the Balkanfila XX Exhibition in Thessaloniki
3. BF Newsletter – experience after the first two newsletters
4. Miscelaneus (+ group photo)

12 participants from 7 Balkanfila Member Federations took part on the Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group (Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Türkiye). Unfortunately, due to overlapping events at the exhibition, some representatives who were otherwise present in Bucharest were not at the meeting.
Igor Pirc, BF Secretary welcomed all present participants and proposed the Agenda, sent out with the Invitation three weeks ago. The Agenda was unanimously accepted.

Ad. 1 Minutes of the 10 th Balkanfila Meeting in Belgrade was unanimously accepted.

Ad. 2 Friends from Thessaloniki, organizers of the XX Balkanfila Exhibition comprehensively presented the preparations for the November Event. The Exhibition will have FEPA Recognition as well ½ of FIP support for the regional level of the exhibition. There will be available up to 1.800 frames for competitive and non-competitive exhibits. The aim is to prepare beside the philatelic also cultural event.
George Thomareis will serve as a Jury President. The organizer waits for the following nominations of National commissioners: Romania, Moldova Croatia, Albania, and Montenegro. Guest Countries: Cyprus, Italy and Israel. Accommodation of the official guest is reserved in the hotel near to the exhibition venue. Visitors will get the promo code for better hotel rate. Information notices will follow. Thessaloniki is waiting for you!

Ad 3. Editor of the Balkanfila Newsletter and 13 correspondents from all BF Member Countries assembled the first two Balkanfila Newsletters. Boncho Bonev expressed the impression of the high quality and standard of the first two newsletters. The third number will be edited and sent out mid of May. The discussion was about the method of distribution - either through National Delegates or directly to individual e-mail addresses. In the end, it was agreed to send the BF Newsletter to all Federations, to the National Delegates, and to individual addresses only on request.

Ad. 4. Next Balkanfila Meeting will be at the time of the XX BF Exhibition in Thessaloniki..

Prepared by
Igor Pirc Attachment: List of participants

MINUTES of the 11^th Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group

1. Confirmation of the Minutes of 11 th Balkanfila Meeting in Athens
2. Presentation of the Balkanfila XIX Exhibition
3. Election of the new Balkanfila President
4. The Organiser of the next, XX. Balkanfila Exhibition
5. Proposals raised by the participants.

13 participants from 9 Balkanfila Member Federations took part on the Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group (Greece, Slovenia, Türkiye, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Srbija, Republika Srpska BiH). The list of participants is in the attachment.
Igor Pirc, BF Secretary welcomed all present participants and proposed the Agenda, sent out with the Invitation three weeks ago.

Ad. 1 Confirmation of the Minutes of 11 th Balkanfila Meeting in Athens
The minutes of the Athens Meeting have been accepted unanimously.

Ad. 2 Resume of the XIX. Balkanfila Exhibition Those present estimated that it was XIX. Balkanfila in Belgrade is perfectly prepared, set up in spacious and bright halls, in new exhibition frames, and with rich in-house and outside accompanying programs.
The hotel was of good quality and located close to the exhibition. The host took care of the participants.
It was only mentioned that the Post Office should be present with the stand where they would sell their products (Balkanfila block in all variations f.e.) and that there was no commemorative postmark of the Exhibition available.
At the Exhibition following Balkanfila member Federations took part: Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina with both entities, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece, Croatia, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Turkey, (only Moldova not) and Hungary as a guest.

Ad 3. Election of the new Balkanfila President At the exhibition in Tirana in 2016, the members signed the Agreement of the Balkanfila Working Group, which defines the cooperation and the manner of preparation of the exhibitions. The bureau that runs Balkanfila consists of the president, who last organized the exhibition, and the secretary. At each exhibition, the president of the federation that organized the exhibition takes over the role of the president. His predecessor remains a member of the committee.
The President of the Serbian Philatelic federation Nikola Ljubičić was unanimously elected as a new Balkanfila President.

Ad. 4. The Organiser of the next, XX. Balkanfila Exhibition At the moment there are no formal proposals for the organisation of the XX. Balkanfila Exhibition, which does not mean that there is no desire among the members to establish the conditions for its implementation. Proposals will be forwarded in the future, when the necessary conditions are met.

Ad. 5. Proposals raised by the participants Christos Gikas, Secretary Gerneral of the Greek Federation sent a day before the Balkanfila Meeting a proposal, which he commented at the Meeting itself. In order that a wider group of members can be constructively involved in the idea, the proposal is given in its entire version.

Balkanfila XIX in Belgrade offered us the opportunity, besides our participation in this great Exhibition, to meet, discuss and possible plan a common action to improve our regional philatelic communication and co-operation.
After some informal discussion I had with friends from the participating countries, I came up with a proposal as to improve communication and establish a regular, steady exchange of Balkan-related information among the Balkanfila participating countries by means of collective actions.
A) Publishing a regular, bimonthly, digital philatelic Newsletter with contents that cover the following areas :
1. News from the National Federations and each country Philatelic Societies
2. Exhibitions (International for example EFIRO news and brief report on how it proceeds, National and Local level in the Balkans)
3. Brief Reports on Exhibitions that have been concluded (Balkanfila XIX) with participation of each country, awards etc (the Hellenic Philatelic Society bimonthly review “Philotelia” will host an article on Balkanfila XIX and a report of the Balkanfila Meeting on 14/12/2023)
1. New stamp issues of the National Post Offices
2. Newly published Books and regular Balkan philatelic magazines
3. Philatelic Activities of the Federations and Societies (during the H.P.S live meetings after the conclusion of Balkanfila will show some Greek Exhibits and have the Exhibitors present them briefly)
B) Webex Balkan-themed Philatelic Meetings

In addition to that we could organize once a month a Webex an open philatelic meeting (with a duration of no more than 60’ including a presentation, questions and discussion) presenting National Collection in pdf/powerpoint form of philatelic collections and/or exhibits (look at Mi Oficina Video Recordings of Webex Philatelic Presentations)
https://www.youtube.com/c/mioficinaphilatelicsociety

During these digital meetings other philatelic subjects can be presented, such as : 1) how to write a Synopsis, 2) the importance of Treatment in an exhibit etc.

C) Publishing a collective Annual - digital - Album (Book) of the Balkanfila activities of the past year (starting with 2023 yearbook published by end of March 2024).
The contents of this Book can be selected Philatelic Articles, important National Federation and Society News, New Stamp Issues of Balkanfila countries, certain F.E.P.A News etc).
For all the above-mentioned projects only some of the personal time of each of the volunteersdelegates involved is required, since they all will be digital, and the cost is minimal (or none).
I am therefore proposing that each Balkanfila participating country to appoint a delegate that will be the National Co-ordinator-Liaison for these three philatelic activities (Newsletter and Webex Meetings) which will improve communication and promote co-operation among us.
Those present fully supported the proposals in the discussion and, in the desire to implement them as soon as possible, adopted the following conclusions:

1. The host of the program is the conceptual author Christos Gikas, and the National Coordinator-Liaison are:
Christos Gikas for Greece (xgikax@gmail.com)
Mehmet Akan for Turkey, (mehmetakan.wordpress.com)
Julian Demeti for Albania (julian.demeti@gmail.com)
Francisc Ambrus for Romania (franambrus@yahoo.com)
Boncho Bonev for Bulgaria (bnb11@abv.bg)
Capt. Slavoljub Katančević for Croatia (katen-sjeme@pu.t-com.hr)
Vladimir Milić for Serbia (vladimir.milich@gmail.com)
Igor Pirc for Slovenia (ipirc711@gmail.com)
Radenko Radanović for BiH (both entities) (radenkoradanovic@gmail.com)
(Montenegro and North Macedonia to appoint their conatct person later)
2. The immediate activity begins with preparations for the first Bimonthly Balkanfila Newsletter.
All coordinators provide information and news from their Federation to the Coordinator Christos Gikas by the end of November 2023.
Technical support to the Coordinator was offered by Julian Demeti.

3. Webex Balkan-themed Philatelic Meetings will be agreed further.

4. Coordinator Ch.G. has full support for further activities, and national coordinators must of course support these efforts with content from their own environments. Only this will ensure the success of cooperation in the long term.

In addition, it is necessary to use the services provided by the website www.balanfila.eu, which of Francisc Ambrus already for years kindly takes care of and where information on all 18 previous Balkanfila exhibitions, the contact information on all Member Federations (National and English Name of the Federation, Address, Phone Nr, Website etc), Minutes of the past BF Exhibitions and Meetings, which are common at each exhibition are maintained.
The president of the Philatelic society Thessaloniki Mr. Ioannis Refanidis presented the planned National philatelic exhibition with international participation, which will be held in November 2024. Balkanfila members and Israel will be invited.
Igor Pirc announced the 11th Specialised One frame exhibition EnoOkno, Kranj, Slovenia, to be organised in the first week of September 2024. Balkanfila members will get the invitation.
At the end of the Meeting at 12.50 a group photo of the present delegates of the National member federations was taken (attached to the mail).
The next Balkanfila meeting is scheduled for the XX. Balkanfila exhibition.
Igor Pirc, BF Secretary Nikola Ljubičić, BF President

MINUTES of the 10^th Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group
Athens, Hotel Hermes, Breakfast room, November 20^th, 2021, at 16.30

1. Short overview of the past Balkanfila activities - Exhibitions, www.balkanfila.eu website, Country representatives
2. View of the members on the future regional cooperation
3. Potential organiser of the XVIII Balkanfila Exhibition
4. Other issues raised by the participants

14 participants from 8 Balkanfila Member Federations took part on the Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group.
Christos Gykas, Secretary of the Greek Federation welcomed on behalf of the Hellenic Federation all present and wished successful work. Those present observed a minute of silence in memory of the late President of the Romanian Federation, Leonard Pascanu.

Ad. 1 Short overview of the past Balkanfila activities Invitation to the Meeting of the Balkanfila representatives during the NOTOS Exhibition in Athens was given by Igor Pirc in the role of Secretary of the Working Group and Ferancisc Ambrus, editor of the Balkanfila website. The secretary gave a short overview of the Balkanfila, the oldest regional philatelic working group in Europe with exhibitions since 1965!
The members of Balkanfila are Albania, (Bosnia and Hercegovina), Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece, Croatia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Turkey, and Cyprus as a regular guest. At the exhibition in Tirana in 2016, the members signed the Agreement of the Balkanfila Working Group, which defines the cooperation and the manner of preparation of the exhibitions. The bureau that runs Balkanfila consists of the president, who last organized the exhibition, and the secretary, Igor Pirc. At the next exhibition, the president of the federation that organized the exhibition takes over the role of the president. His predecessor remains a member of the committee.
WG Balkanfila (BF) has a website www.balkanfila.eu for a long time, run by Romanian friend Francisc Ambrus with his own funds and work. The website offers information on all 18 previous BF exhibitions, contact information on all Member Federations (National and English Name of the Federation, Address, Phone Nr, Website etc), Minutes of the past BF Exhibitions and Meetings, which are common at each exhibition. Attendees updated their contact information to be put on the BF website by Francisc Ambrus.

Ad. 2 in 3. Views of members' representatives on further cooperation and potential organizer of the XIX. Balkanfila Exhibition All present expressed in the name of their Federations full readiness to further intensify the cooperation of BF members, hoping that COVID pandemia will allow exhibitions and other events to be organized again.
Boncho Bonev, Bulgaria, has taken the initiative to intensify the cooperation in the field of the jury work in the sense that exhibitions organized by the BF members include regional FIP, FEPA and national jurors as well apprentices. Younger staff means continuity!! It is also committed to helping exhibitors from the BF countries (quality feed-back, correct evaluation).
The Romanian Federation has been planning the XIX. BF Exhibition in 2019 and 2020, which should have been in Bucharest but had to be canceled due to the COVID pandemic. The recent death of the president of their Federation has again delayed the realization, as it is necessary to first renew the leadership of the Federation, and then review the material and organizational possibilities. However, Romanian friends have expressed a strong commitment for the next exhibition to take place in the autumn of 2022, or even more likely in 2023, when the post-endemic number of exhibitions in 2022 will ease somewhat.

Ad. 4. Other issues raised by the participants. Romanian colleagues offered the possibility of renting light aluminum 16-sheet frames (price € 65 for a rent of the double-sided frame), plus transport. This is a better solution than buying and storing frames that one costs up to € 500 one, without the cost of storage, for a one-off large-scale exhibition that takes place in a small country once every 15-20 years.
It was agreed that the director of the Museum of Romanian Records, Victor Bota, would prepare technical data on the frames, and a formal offer to all members of the Working Group.
The next topic pointed out by Boncho Bonev from Bulgaria, also from the experience of the FIP judge, is that more attention should be paid to filling out Synopsis. The Synopsis is an optional but very useful document to be completed by the exhibitor and attached to the application and introductory sheet. With this document, the exhibitor informs the judges at the future exhibition what the purpose of his exhibit is, what he has supplemented or changed since the previous exhibition, which material in the exhibit is rare and other specialties that he usually knows the most about. This gives the judge a better insight into his work and a deeper understanding of the exhibit, and thus also the path to more correct (better) scoring.
The agreement was that Boncho Bonev would obtain a Synopsis form and a few examples of well-filled for a concrete exhibit. This should help exhibitors better understand how they should present their exhibit. Guidelines How to prepare a good Synopsis would be excellent upgrade of this idea. The finding was that it is a very important contribution to understanding how to make better progress with your exhibit.
All those present pointed out the declining readiness of the National posts to sponsor philatelic activities incl. exhibitions. Other/additional sponsors need to be obtained.
At the end of the Meeting at 18.05 a group photo of the present delegates of the National member federations was taken. It will be published on the website as an incentive to all other members for future meetings and philatelic events.
The next meeting is scheduled for the XIX. Balkanfila exhibition.

Prepared by
Igor Pirc Attachment: List of participants

MINUTES of the 9^th Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group
National Art Gallery Tirana, Library Room, May 6^th, 2016, at 17.00

The roll call was made and the following attendance was registered:

Albania: Muharem Gimjani, new BF President, Edmond Budo, Vasil Xhitoni, ArgjirPanariti, Julian Demeti,
Bulgaria: Spas Panchev, former BF President, Boncho Bonev, Lazar Lazarov,
Croatia: Ivan Drašković, Dario Filjar
Greece: PantelisLeoussis,

Macedonia: Viktor Gaber,
Moldova: Constantin Ciobanu,
Montenegro: Tomo Katurić,
Romania: Francisc Ambruș,
Serbia: Nikola Ljubičić, Jukub Nakri,
Slovenia: Igor Pirc,
Turkey: M. Ziya Ağaoğullari,
BiH: absent
Observers: Cyprus: Nicos Rangos, FEPA: Jose Ramon Moreno, President

Agenda of the meeting:

1. Confirmation of the Minutes of the 8^th Meeting in Vidin 2014
2. Resume of the XVIII. Balkanfila Exhibition in Tirana
3. Organiser of the next - XIX. Balkanfila Exhibition
4. Election of the New Balkanfila President and Secretary
5. Miscellaneous

Ad. 1 Minutes of the 8^th meeting in Vidin 2014 have been accepted without comments. President of the Balkanfila Spas Panchev has greeted successful efforts of the organizer of the first international philatelic exhibition in Tirana, who with the support of the Albanian Post did his work excellently. He mentioned also the role of the Balkanfila coordinator of this exhibition Bojan Bračič, BF secretary Igor Pirc, the BF web-site technical editor Francisc Ambruș and finally the Greek Post, which gave the exhibition frames for the time of the exhibition free of charge.

He praised also the task done by the jurors and commissioners, and finally also the exhibitors, preparing and giving their exhibits for the show. He remembers also Mahmut Emirmahmutoğlu, honorary president of the Balkanfila Working Group, who celebrates in this days his birthday (applause of the auditorium!). Balkanfila exhibitons are not only philatelic events, they are also meeting of friends in the Balkan region. Mr. Panchev suggested also to use other regional events to come together, as f.e. Plovdiv Philatelic Fair, Maximaphila etc. The article of Alexandru Bartoc in the Balkanii şi Europa (Nr. 163, April 2016) Exposiţia "Balkanfila" has been mentioned: we should promote our movementin the FEPA News and in the local media. Mr. Jose Ramon Moreno greeted the event in the role of President of the Federation of European Philatelic Associations FEPA. His opinion was that the regional working groups – Balkanfila is one of the oldest and biggest – are the base for the future development of the philately. President of the Association of Collectors of Albania Muharem Gimjani expressed the honor and joy to host for the first time the Balkanfila exhibition in his country. They (Association of Collectors of Albania) did as organizer all possible efforts to make the exhibition on the highest level and for the convenience of the attendants.

Ad. 2 General and unanimously opinion of the representatives was that the exhibition BALKANFILA 2016, organised by the Association of Collectors of Albania, was excellently prepared and carried out. The exhibition hall offered enough place and light for the visitors and jurors to admire the exhibits, hotel accommodation was appropriate and close to the exhibition hall. The accompanying program was rich and diversified, showing to foreign and domestic participants the insight into the history and present life of the city of Tirana and Albania as well. Opening ceremony, the presence of 9 TV cameramen and reports on TV stations will popularize the philately and collecting in the country.

Ad. 3 Organizer of the XIX Balkanfila exhibition: At the moment no definitive proposals have been given. It is obviously that the support of the National Post is the base for it. Some representatives promised to encourage their Post authorities for the organization of the next exhibition. It was agreed that the positive proposal of the national organizer will be discussed and confirmed by e-mail correspondence. The BF coordinator will be appointed too.

Ad. 4 According to the practice, the organizer of the current exhibition, Muharem Gimjani has been unanimously elected the new President of the Balkanfila Working Group and Igor Pirc the Secretary for the mandate till the next exhibition.

Ad. 5 Balkanfila Working Group Exhibition Regulations have been signed also by the President of the Moldovan Philatelic Federation Constantin Ciobanu.
Spas Panchev suggested to collect all relevant data and informations on the Balkanfila history to be issued at the 65 Jubilee (2020) as printed edition. Alexandru Bartoc, whose foundation has collected almost all materials, took over this project. Mr. Panchev announced possible exhibiton – 2018 in Sophia (European Sport Capital in 2018).
Mr. Jose Ramon Moreno offered the possibility of joint issues with Posta Espaňa in 2018 (with Slovenia?) and 2019 (with Bulgaria?) – to be communicated.
Boncho Bonev introduced the candidature of the president of the Bulgarian Philatelic Union Spas Panchev for the FIP director at the congress in Taipei and asked for the support. Igor Pirc added the information of the candidature of the president of the Slovenian philatelic Association Peter Suhadolc for the presidency of the FIP commission for thematics. Nobody was against, for the region will be stronger through our presence in the FIP structures.

The meeting ended officially at 19.00 with taking the photograph of the attending representatives.
Prepared by
Igor Pirc Attachment: List of participants

MINUTES of the 8^th Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group
Exhibition Center, Vidin, April 6^th, 2014, at 18.00

The roll call was made and the following attendance was registered:

Albania: Nikolla Xharo, Muharem Gimjani
Bulgaria: Spas Panchev, president, Kristo Nikolchev, Boncho Bonev,
Croatia: Proxy Bocho Bonev
Greece: Alexandre Galinos

Macedonia: Doncho Georgiev, Stanko Zafirov,
Montenegro: Tomo Katurić, President
Romania: Francisc Ambruș
Serbia: Slobodan Mendžija,
Slovenia: Igor Pirc, Bojan Bračič,
Turkey: M. Ziya Agaogullari, President, Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu,
BiH Republika Srpska: absent
Moldova: absent

Observers:
Cyprus: Nicos Rangos, President
FEPA: Bojan Bračič, Secretary

Agenda of the meeting:

1. XVII. Balkanfila exhibition VIDIN 2014
2. What kind of the Agreement do we need?
3. Organiser of the next - XVIII. Balkanfila
4. Election of the New Balkanfila President and Secretary
5. Miscellaneous

Ad. 1 General and unanimously opinion of the representatives was that the exhibition BALKANFILA 2014, organised by the Bulgarian Philatelic Union, devoted to 135 years of the parliamentarism in Bulgaria, was excellently prepared and carried out.
The exhibition hall offered enough place and light for the visitors and jurors to admire the exhibits, hotel accommodation was appropriate and close to the exhibition hall. The accompanying program was rich and diversified, showing to foreign and domestic participants the insight into the history and present life of the city of Vidin as well as the geological and vinery wealth of this NW region of Bulgaria.

The presence of political and religious representatives at the exhibition and palmares gave additional mark to the event. Speakers: Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu, Honorary Chairman of the Balkanfila, Nicos Rangos, Igor Pirc, Francisc Ambruș, Nikolla Xharo, Captain Tomo Katurić, and others.

Ad. 2 Balkanfila Working Group Exhibition Regulations have been introduced to the attending member representatives already at the 6^th Meeting at Maribor, May 2012. No written comments have been received till the agreed date September 2012.
The draft consists of basic principles of the Balkanfila exhibitions – the aim of such kind of cooperation, frequence of the exhibitions, minimum costs borne by the organizer, organizational project approach, invitations to all member federations, criteria for participants, maximum frame fee, status of the commissioners and jurors, point levels and medals, special prizes and Balkanfila Grand Prix. New function of the Balkanfila Coordinator was introduced. Coordinator named for the next exhibitions as a support for the organizer and reporter to the actual President of the Balkanfila WG.
The attendants of the meeting agreed with the proposed regulations, which are the minimum of the requirements that the organizer has to assure. The past and the current exhibitions showed higher level services, which is saluted, but maybe will not always be possible by the potential organizers.

The draft of the Agreement was copied and signed by all representatives present. Each of them received a copy. The original will be published at the Balkanfila website http://www.balkanfila.org and kept by the Secretary.

At the Balkanfila WG meeting 2014 in Vidin two member federations have been missed – the Moldovan and the BiH RS. It is agreed that at the next Balkanfila exhibition (likely in 2016) the presence of the representatives as well the exhibits of both country federations are required. The signing of the Balkanfila Working Group Exhibition Regulations at that time is the condition to assure the future membership in the working group.

The Balkanfila WG has a website in construction, run by Francisc Ambruș - www.balkanfila.org. A lot of information has been already published. Member federations are asked to provide missing data, documents, photos etc. upon request or by their own initiative. Written demands will be sent out.

Ad. 3 Organizer of the XVIII Balkanfila exhibition: The president of the Albanian Philatelic Federation Nikolla Xharo announced the plan to organize the next Balkanfila exhibition in May 2016 in Tirana. Since not all conditions forconfirming the organization were present, he asked for a 6 months delay: the final confirmation is tobe expected in September 2014. In other case the next candidate will be contacted – the Turkish federation.
Bojan Bracic, Slovenia, has been appointed Coordinator for the XVII Exhibition.

Ad. 4 According to the practice, the organizer of the current exhibition, Spas Panchev has been unanimously elected the new President of the Balkanfila Working group and Igor Pirc the Secretary for the mandate untill the next exhibition.

Ad. 5 The meeting ended officially at 19.00 with taking the photograph of the attending representatives, and with common dinner.

Prepared by Igor Pirc

MINUTES of the 7^th Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group

Center Leon Stukelj, Maribor, May 24^th, 2012, at 11.00

The roll call was made and the following attendance was registered:

Albania: Muharem Gimjani
BiH Republika Srpska: Radenko Radanović
Bulgaria: Spas Panchev, president, Nikolay Penev, Boncho Bonev,
Croatia: Mladen Vilfan, president, Željko Štefanović

Greece: Pantelis Leoussis, President,
Macedonia: Stevan Savevski, president, Doncho Georgiev
Moldova: proxy to Alexandru Bartoc
Montenegro: Tomo Katurić, president
Romania: Alexandru Bartoc, Francisc Ambruș
Serbia: Aleksandar Krstić,
Slovenia: Igor Pirc, president,
Turkey: Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu, Ziya Agaogullari

Observers:
Portugal: Pedro vaz Pereira, president, Raul Leitao

Agenda of the meeting:

1. XVI. Balkanfila exhibition MARIBOFILA 2012
2. Organizer of the next – XVII. Balkanfila
3. Statute and GREX of Balkanfila
4. Web-site Balkanfila
5. Election of the new WG Balkanfila President and Secretary
6. Jury seminar Budapest 2012
7. Miscellaneous

The host of the meeting, President of the Union of the Bulgarian Philatelists, Spas Panchev opened the meeting, greeted the President of the Union of the Bulgarian Philatelists, Spas Panchev opened the meeting, greeted the representatives and observers from the Balkanfila countries and the guests from Portugal, Mr. Pedro vaz Pereira, president and Raul Leitao. (The president of FEPA Mr. Jorgen Jorgensen sent written apologize due to the pre-reserved arrival flight).

Ad. 1. General opinion of the representatives was, that the exhibition MARIBOFILA 2012, which includes two regional exhibitions - XVI. Balkanfila with the guest country Portugal and the XVII. Alps Adria Philately with the guest country Cyprus is very well prepared,

the exhibition hall offers enough place and light for the visitors and jurors, hotel accommodation is appropriate and Maribor, as the European capital of the culture in 2012 attractive environment for the stay. The idea to show the exhibits of the two regional philatelic movements offers an excellent overview of the philatelic world.
Igor Pirc thanked also to Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu, honorary chairman of the Balkanfila, who contributed the logo and the flags of the Balkanfila and Alps Adria for the Maribofila exhibition.

Ad. 3. The Slovenian delegation offered the organization of the next - XVI. Balkanfila exhibition in Maribor, Slovenia. The Ad. 2. Mr. Alexandru Bartoc informed the representatives of the Balkan countries, that the Romanian Philatelic Federation is ready to organize in 2015 the next XVII. Balkanfila exhibition with 1.000 frames, all classes. It was very warm accepted - to have the next organizer already at the time of the present exhibition, so

The representatives of the Balkanfila federations agreed to grant the preparation of the XVII. Balkanfila exhibition to Romanian Philatelic Federation.

3. At the 6^th meeting in Plovdiv it was agreed that the team Bracic, Virvilis and Bartoc shall finish the draft of the Statute and the GREX. The draft was prepared, but not discussed and finished inside of the named group. Therefore the representatives got the copy of the first draft.

All member federations are asked to send their comments on the draft given and other suggestions to Igor Pirc (ipirc771@gmail.com) untill the end of September 2012.

The goal is to meet during 2013 at one of the philatelic events in Europe and agree on the final text.

Ad. 4. Mr. Francisc Ambruș is the named webmaster of the Balkanfila web site: http://www.balkanfila.org He pointed out the lack of the all kind of information regarding to Balkanfila and member federations.

Member federations and individuals are asked to send him all kind of informations and photos in regard to the Balkanfila history and present in electronic form.

Ad. 5. According to the practice, the organizer of the current exhibition, Igor Pirc, has been unanimously elected for the new president of the Working Group and mr. Leonard Pascanu as the secretary for the next three year mandate.

Igor Pirc expressed warm thanks to Spas Pancev, for his contribution in the past three years, including the excellent exhibition in 2010.

Ad. 6. Igor Pirc informed in the name of the Hungarian Federation the audience on the planned jury seminar on postal history and thematics, organized by the Hungarian Federation in Budapest, October 2012. More: www.mabeosz.hu/

Ad. 7. The Croatian Federation gave in written the iniciative Addition to Agenda of Meeting regarding the unacceptable policy of the forthcoming organizers of the world exhibition and the FIP board and the passive attitude of the FEPA president Jorgen Jorgensen and both European representatives Jussi Tuori and Bernard Jimenez in the FIP board in this regard! The common opinion was that max frame fee per frame should not exceed 45€ (youth free of charge!) as well other bound expenses – like return shipment, should not burden the exhibitors - and that the FEPA congress must present this initiative on the FIP congress in Jakarta.
The discussion opened also some other aspects of the FIP as the organization which should act in the interest of his members and not vice versa (unacceptable pressures on the organizers of the exhibitions regarding the jury members etc). Europe should unite and the European member of the FIP board should represent the interest of their base.

It was unanimously agreed that the Bulgarian delegate to the FEPA congress in Paris Mr. Boncho Bonev presents this initiative as the proposal of the Balkanfila regional working group.

(The Alps Adria Meeting met at the same morning the same conclusion, so Mr. Bonev and the common speaker of the Alps Adria Philately, Hungarian delegate to the congress Mr. Denes Czirok will align their appearance on the stage.)

The discussion brought also the conclusion that the members of the Balkanfila regional group on the international level as commissioners, jurors, delegates, representatives etc. should communicate, exchange informations and support each other in order to promote appearance of the Balkanfila region.

The Romanian representative Mr. Bartoc proposed Israel to become member of the Balkanfila regional group. The conclusion was – as already once before – that the strict regional criteria should be applied, but strong and friendly federations can be always invited as guest.

The meeting started with welcome drink at Cyril and Method day and ended officially at 13.00.

Igor Pirc, Secretary Spas Panchev, president

Attachment: The copy of the Croatian initiative

Maribor, 24. 5. 2012

MINUTES of the 6^th Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group

Hotel St. Peterburg, Plovdiv, October 27^th, 2010, at 18.00.

The roll call was made and the following attendance was registered:
Bulgaria: Spas Panchev, President, Christo Nikoltchev, Boncho Bonev, Valeriy Terziyski
Croatia: proxy to Slovenia
Greece: Anthony Virvilis, President, Alex Galinos,
FYR Macedonia: Doncho Georgiev, Stanko Zafirov
Montenegro: Tomo Katurić, President

Romania: Leonard Pascanu, President, Alexandru Bartoc, Francisc Ambruș
Serbia: Aleksandar Krstić, Slobodan Meandžija
Slovenia: Igor Pirc, President,
Turkey: Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu, Murat Halinedaroglu, Hakan Alecaoglu
Absent: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova,

FEPA: Bojan Bracic, Secretary General
Cyprus: Nicos Rangos, Observer

Agenda of the meeting:

1. Confirmation of the Minutes of 5^th Meeting in Sofia
2. XV. Balkanfila and Election of the new WG Balkanfila President
3. XVI. Balkanfila
4. Statute and GREX of Balkanfila
5. Miscellaneous

The host of the meeting, President of the Union of the Bulgarian Philatelists, Spas Panchev opened the meeting, greeted the representatives and observers from the Balkanfila countries and the FEPA secretary general Mr. Bojan Bračič (FEPA granted recognition to XV. Balknafila), who greeted the presence and excused FEPA president Mr. Jorgen Jorgensen, who could not join the event.

Ad. 1. The Minutes of 5^th Meeting in Sofia have been unanimously accepted. Tony Virvilis opened once more the question of level and value of the Balkanfila medals, the motion sent last year to the FEPA Board. Mr. Bračič explained the arguments and the opinion of the FEPA Board which were accepted as reasonable. Medals received at Balkanfila exhibitions can reach the equal level as medals from continental or world exhibitions if exhibition has FEPA patronage (not only support or recognition) and FIP recognition. In such case FEPA ordered minimum 25 % of the Jury members and appointed coordinator which works with organizing committee and has influence to accepted jurors to exhibition.

Ad. 2. General opinion of the representatives was, that the XV. Balkanfila in Plovdiv is a huge contribution of the Bulgarian Union to assure ongoing tempo of the exhibitions and encounters of the Balkanfila members, and that the event runs on a very high level.

According to the practice, the organizer of the current exhibition, Spas Panchev, has been unanimously elected for the new president of the Working Group. He expressed warm thanks to Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu, who offered the excellent exhibition in 2007, and contributed also the logo of the Balkanfila, many flags for the Plovdiv exhibition, etc. Captain Tomo Katurić expressed thanks to the contribution of Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu and proposed to grant him the honorary chairmanship. The representatives supported his proposal with applause.

In order to secure the operability of the Balkanfila Working Group, the newly elected president Spas Panchev proposed that Igor Pirc continues the role of the Balkanfila Working group secretary which was unanimously accepted.

Ad.3. The Slovenian delegation offered the organization of the next - XVI. Balkanfila exhibition in Maribor, Slovenia. The representatives have been given the IREX and basic information on the time and place of the event. The president of the organizing committee, Bojan Bračič explained the basic motive of the combined Balkanfila and Alps Adriatic Philately exhibition under the name MARIBOFILA 2012 in the city of Maribor, one of two European Capitals of the Culture in 2012 (the other town is Guimaraes in Portugal, which is also the reason why Portugal will be invited to Maribor as a guest participant!).

The Balkanfila exhibition, including the guest federation, will have a lot of 350 frames (16 sheets); four competition classes, plus literature.

The discussion that followed showed doubts whether the Balkanfila exhibition will get appropriate recognition within the MARIBOFILA event, and also the question of the competition classes has been raised. Both Mr. Pirc and Bračič assured that the Balkanfila will be on equal organizational and social standing; Mr. Bračič pointed out that four classes at 12 Balkanfila members is equal to all classes at 7 Alps Adria Philately members.

Mr. Bonev suggested the idea how to choose competitive classes at exhibitions with only few classes – to choose that classes which were not present at previous “incomplete” exhibition. The idea was accepted as reasonable. The selection of the four competitive classes will be considered in order to offer classes with enough exhibits in all countries (postal history as the basic tie between Balkan countries).

The discussion pointed on the opened task – preparation and receipt of the Statutes and the Balkanfila GREX in which also the above opened questions will have to be defined.

The team Bracic, Virvilis and Bartoc shall finish the draft of the Statute and the GREX till the end of January 2011, and send them to all member federations. Then they will have time to respond with remarks till the end of March 2011 in order to have set the minimum requirements already for the XVI. Balkanfila in 2012.

The president of the Working group Spas Panchev asked the representatives to vote for granting the organization of XVI. Balkanfila exhibition to Slovenia, and the result was unanimously positive:

The XVI. Balkanfila will be held in Maribor, Slovenia from May 24^th to May 27^th 2012.

Ad.4. Mr. Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu granted the right for the use of the logo also to the next Balkanfila exhibition. Mr. Francisc Ambruș, who took over the task of building up and maintaining the internet site of the Balkanfila WG, asked for the electronic material (texts, pictures etc.) to be put on the internet. (F.e. Palmares of Istanbul 2007 and Plovdiv 2010!)

The temporary web site address is: http://www.revenues.ro/balkanfila/
The editors of the internet site remain the same: Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu, Anthony Virvilis, Igor Pirc, and technical editor Ambruș Francisc.

The meeting ended officially at 19.30 and continued in the unofficial way in the nearby restaurant, invited by the Bulgarian Union of Philatelists.

Igor Pirc, Secretary

Plovdiv, October 28. 2010, Ljubljana, November 17. 2010

MINUTES of the 5^th Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group

Hotel Rodina, May 27^th, 2009, at 16.00

The roll call was made and the following attendance was registered:

Albania: Bajram Peçi President, Nikolla Xharro,
Bulgaria: Spas Panchev President, Boncho Bonev,
Croatia: Mladen Vilfan,
Greece: Antony Virvilis President. M. Tsironis,
FYR Macedonia: Doncho Georgiev, Stanko Zafirov,
Montenegro: Tomo Katurić President,
Romania: Alexandru Bartoc, Francisc Ambruș,
Serbia: Jovan Ristić,
Slovenia: Igor Pirc President,
Turkey: Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu, H. Akçaoglu, Murat Hazinedaroglu,
Absent: Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Attended also:
Jorgen Jorgensen FEPA President,
Bojan Bracic FEPA Secretary General.

Agenda of the meeting:

1. XV. Balkanfila
2. Logo of the Balkanfila
3. New Member Applications
4. Miscellaneous

The host of the meeting, President of the Union of the Bulgarian Philatelists, Spas Panchev opened the meeting, greeted the representatives and observers from the Balkan countries and the special guest Mr. Jorgen Jorgensen, the new elected President of FEPA. The FEPA President expressed his best wishes to the Balkanfila movement, the oldest regional organization staging serial exhibitions for almost 45 years already (Turkey 4, Bulgaria and Romania 3, Yugoslavia and Greece 2) and he promised the continuation of the FEPA support.

A. Virvilis opened the question of the level and value of the Balkanfila medals so far of a national status, since the juries used are FIP and FEPA accredited in majority and judge in accordance with the FIP rules. It has been stated that the Balkanfila institution assembles 11 countries of the FEPA Family (compared with similar institutions e.g. the Alps Adria Philately 7 and the Nordia 5), thus representing one quarter of the FEPA.
FEPA President promised to examine the problem with the Board when they shall receive the respective memorandum by the Balkanfila Working Group.

1. It was unanimously agreed that in order to secure the operability of the Balkanfila Working Group, the organizer of the last exhibition Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu, to continue his duty as President of the Working Group and Igor Pirc as Secretary, there duty being to maintain close contact with the members, arrange future meetings.

2. The representative of the Union of Serbian Philatelists Jovan Ristić, reported the withdrawal of support of the Serbian Post to the planned XV. Balkanfila exhibition Therefore, Greece and Slovenia have been asked to undertake the responsibility of organising the next Balkanfila.

Mr. Virvilis explained the intention of the Hellenic Federation of organizing a FIP world exhibition in 2011 in Thessaloniki or Athens for the 150^th anniversary of the first Greek post stamp. Only in the case that Hellenic Post will not grant the appropriate funds for this exhibition, they would try, as an alternative, to persuade the Hellenic Post to finance next Balkanfila in 2011.
Mr. Pirc expressed the regret that the Slovenian Philatelic Association with the yearly budget of 5,000€ is not in the position to organize such a regional high-level exhibition (Budget for the Balkanfila in Istanbul 2007 was 150,000€). Mr. Bracic added the information that the last Alps Adria Exhibition in Maribor was carried out with only 3,500€, which means a very low standard of accompanying services.
In order to help getting out of the blind alley, Mr. Panchev offered the organization of the XV. Balkanfila next year in Plovdiv, which was accepted unanimously and with relief.

3. Mr. Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu showed the flag of the Balkanfila WG. He granted the right for the use of the logo to the Balkanfila WG.

4. Mr. Ambruș Francisc, who took over the task of building up and maintaining the internet site of the Balkanfila WG, asked for the electronic material (texts, pictures etc;) to be put on the internet. Temporary web site address: http://www.revenues.ro/balkanfila/index.php The editorial Committee of the internet site were appointed Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu, Anthony Virvilis, Igor Pirc, and webmaster Francisc Ambruș.
Mr. Virvilis stated Balkanfila should not be only a series of exhibitions, but the institution which means informing through the internet, issuing of the bulletins, offering to judges the possibility of getting acquainted with the material of the postal history of the Balkan countries.

5. Moldova and Cyprus applied for the membership in the Balkanfila WG.

Discussed were the criteria for the full membership, and it has been unanimously agreed that geographical appertenance is the basic criterium. It was further agreed that for any new membership to be accepted, unanimity is required.

Moldova has been voted unanimously for the membership as the 12^th country of the Balkanfila WG.

The discussion regarding the application of the Cyprus was extensive, and the Turkish representatives expressed restraint owing to the two entities on the Island of Cyprus – the Greek and the Turkish one. The discussion showed that at the time no unanimous decision could be achieved, therefore there was an unanimous vote (except the Greek delegates who insisted in taking a decision now) the decision about Cyprus to be postponed to one of the next opportunities.

All delegates express their gratitude to the hosts, the Union of Bulgarian Philatelists, for their kind hospitality and raised a cup of wine to the future of Balkanfila institution.

The meeting ended at 18.00 and continued in unofficial way at the premises of the Sofia Philatelic Society, where S. Panchev offered a dinner to the Working Group delegates.

Igor Pirc, Secretary

MINUTES of the 4^th Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group

The meeting took place at the SIDONIA Room, Hotel Phoenicia, Bukarest, on June 26^th 2008, starting at 11.30 a.m.

The roll call was made and the following attendance was registered:

Albania: Nikolla Xharo,
Bulgaria: Boncho Bonev, Dimiter Monev, Ivan Kostov,
Greece: Anthony Virvilis, Costas Chazapis,
Montenegro: Tomo Katurić
Romania: Leonard Pascanu, Alecsandru Bartoc, Francisc Ambruș,
Serbia: Djordje Radičević, Jovan Veličković, Zoran Stepanović
Slovenia: Peter Suhadolc, Igor Pirc
Turkey: Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu, Ziya Agaogullari, Arman AriKan,
FEPA: Pedro vaz Pereira

Excused:
Croatia,
FYR of Macedonia (proxy to Slovenia)

Points discussed:

1. Confirmation of the Minutes of the 3^rd meeting in Istanbul
2. XV. Balkanfila Exhibition 2009
3. Logo of the Balkanfila
4. Miscellaneous

The acting president Mr. Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu opened the meeting, greeting all representatives and observers from the Balkanfila countries and the special guest Mr. Pedro vaz Pereira, FEPA president and traditional guest of the Working Group meetings. He then expressed thanks of all the attendants to the Romanian Federation who made possible the present Meeting.

The FEPA president expressed his best wishes to the Balkanfila movement, and in particular for the continuation of the exhibitions. The previous Balkanfila held in Istanbul was a very good one and he was so sorry he was obliged to leave suddenly for happy family reasons.

Ad. 1. The minutes of the 3^rd meeting in Istanbul have been unanimously accepted. The representative member of the three head groups for the preparation of regulations of the Balkanfila (Virvilis, Bartoc, Bračič) Mr. Tony Virvilis said, much to his regret, that has nothnig to report on the new Regulations as he and his colleagues were too busy last winter. He, however, expects to have some news next autumn.
He further pointed out that not only exhibitions should be considered, but also several additional acitivities, e.g. the publication of a common annual multilingual publication dealing with Balkan Philately. The scope of this publication would be the promotion of our area'a philately.

Ad. 2. The president of the Union of Philatelists of Serbia Mr. Radicevic announced the support of the JP PTT (Posts of Serbia) for organizing the XV. Balkanfila Exhibition next year in the first half of October 2009 in Belgrade. The Bulletin Nr.1 will be published October this year, catering for all competitive classes.
The main problem they see are the frames, since the old ones cannot be used any more.
After a long discussion including many benevolent suggestions, the advice suggested was organisers to start the procedure of investment into the initial quantity of own frames (up to 200 pcs), and for the rest to ask the neighbouring postal authorities (Bulgaria and/or Greece) to cover the difference up to 1.000 (500 double-faced) pcs.

Ad. 3. The logo of the WG is already in the process of registration - under the name of president Mahmut Emirmahmutoglu who is willing to pass the rights to the Balkanfila Working Group free of charge. Three different proposals of the flag have been presented and the one - horizontal, with 11 pidgeons, w/o national flags was unanimously adopted (see attachment).
Other applications may vary in shapes. The Working Group expresses special thanks to the Turkish designer Mrs Betu. Z. Guzhan for the series of excellent proposals submitted.

Mr. Francisc Ambruș from Romania brought up the case of the Balkanfila Institution website and undertook the task to build and maintain it. He only asks for all texts and pictures in electronic form to be sent to him. The delegates thanked Mr. Ambrus for his willingness and it was agreed the case be studied and discussed further in Belgrade.

Ad. 4. As agreed in Sofia in 2006, the country representative of the next exhibition organizer takes over the presidency.
Therefore Mr. Emirmahmutoglu handed over the Balkanfila flag & Presidency to Mr. Djordje Radičević from Serbia wishing him all the best on the way to the next – XV. Balkanfila exhibition.

The meeting ended at 14.45

Minutes written by Igor Pirc, Slovenia

Attached:
List of the attendants
Adopted flag

ARCHIVE:

Report of the 2007 Meeting in Sofia, December 2006
MINUTES of the 3^rd Meeting of the Balkanfila Working Group
MEMORANDUM In the meeting of the Balkan countries' representatives in Brno