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The North Atlantic Alliance's cooperation with Ukraine allows the Treaty to redefine the basic principles on which it exists and operates. This paper traces the dynamics of NATO's relations with the former Soviet republic, covering the relations since their emergence after the collapse of the USSR. The main method used is content analysis, reviewing numerous documents that address both the original objectives that were set with NATO's founding as well as the organization's transition and its adaptation to contemporary challenges. This paper highlights the importance of Ukraine in the expansion of NATO as a community of values – a community that continues to grow and encompasses not only Eastern Europe. Since Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, the Pact has been deepening its cooperation with Ukraine while at the same time expanding to include the northern European states of Sweden and Finland, the message of the Alliance being that it is precisely due to the cooperation with Ukraine that NATO is ready to develop its potential for expansion including in its borders even the successor states of the Soviet Union. Through its relationship with Ukraine, NATO is also proving to be the most effective and robust link between Europe and North America, which share common interests and values in developing their political and strategic positions. The conclusion drawn is that despite the requests and the increased cooperation, a conservative forecast should be made regarding the possibility of Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Alliance as a full member. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper puts forward the proposition that today's Bulgarian civic festive calendar may be examined as a system composed not of individual holidays but of corresponding holiday pairs (3 March -- 2 June, St. George's Day -- St. Michael the Archangel's All Soul's Day, 24 May -- 1 November). The holiday pairs have been formed gradually, and in the course of time a 'strong' and a 'weak' holiday came to exist, the former -- honouring a supreme community value, whereas the latter -- paying respect to the memory of the heroes who devoted their lives to its achievement. The paper makes an attempt to substantiate the thesis that dualism is the leading trend in the development of the festive calendar, which might be observed in its past historical stages as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is one of the most dynamically developing industries in the modern world. It is a means of increasing the well-being of peoples, of strengthening peace, of universal respect for human rights, regardless of race, sex, language or religion. One of the main and significant alternative types of tourism is cultural tourism. It develops more intensively by increasing the quantity and variety of services offered. Destinations and sites for cultural tourism are established and imposed on the national and international tourist market. Interest in cultural tourism is growing - both from tourists and from businesses, professional unions and associations, municipalities and communities, from government structures and specialists in the tourism industry. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between culture and tourism, and in particular the influence of personal culture on the undertaking of a tourist trip. In conclusion, the social and economic importance of cultural tourism, seen as a symbiosis of culture and tourism, is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]