Bulgaria's Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev (L) reads the first edition of The Europe Journal with Austria's Envoy to Sofia Karl Diem (R). Photo by Nadya Kotseva (Sofia News Agency)
In an untraditional wave of celebrations, key cafes all over Europe gathered pastry connoisseurs to celebrate Europe Day on Tuesday.
27 Cafes d'Europe, in 27 European capitals, Sofia included, held coffeehouse discussions with the public and young people from all over the continent.
Austria's envoy to Bulgaria, Karl Diem welcomed the guests at Sofia's Cafe Bulgaria. The event was honoured by Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev and Dimitris Kourkoulas, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Sofia.
Much in defiance to springtime diets, the cafes offered an array of 27 traditional pastries, one for each country. Despite its pending EU-accession Bulgaria took part in the pastry fest with its "Mliako s Oriz" (milk with rice and cinnamon) the preferred desert for many kids and grownups alike.
Tempting sweets covering the table in abundance included Austria's famous Gugelhupf, Italy's emblematic Tiramisu, Spain's revered Tarta de Santiago and the much loved Belgian Waffles.
The Institute of the Regions of Europe launched the Cafe d'Europe initiative with the help of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The gatherings aiming to promote communication and local culture, were held at the symbols of intercultural debates all over the continent - cafes.