The president of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences acad. Julian Revalski presented the Director of the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre for Tracology (IBSCT-BAS) Prof. Dr. Roumiana Preshlenova with an honorary golden plaque for his significant contribution in fundamental and applied scholarly research. The honor was awarded during the solemn celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Institute of Balkan Studies. It was founded by a decision of the Council of Ministers on January 15, 1964 under the auspices of UNESCO as a scientific research and educational centre for the languages, history, culture and modern development of the Balkans. In 2010, it was joined by the Center for Tracology "Prof. Alexander Fol".

Greetings were presented on behalf of the Minister of Education and Science, the Chairperson of the Archives State Agency, the Rector and Dean of the Faculty of History of the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", the Rector of the Southwest University "Neofit Rilski", the Bulgarian National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), Directors of the Institute of Literature, the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore with an Ethnographic Museum and the Institute for Art Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Director of the Regional History Museum in Silistra.

Congratulatory addresses were sent by the Minister of Culture, Directors of the State Institute for Culture under the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Diplomatic Institute, the Rector of the University of Library Science and Information Technologies, Directors of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum, the Institute of the Bulgarian Language "Prof. Lyubomir Andreychin" and the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Directors of the Regional Historical Museum in Montana and the Regional Ethnographic Open Air Museum "Eter".

Prof. D.Sc. Raia Zaimova, Editor-in-chief of the prestigious IBSCT–BAS journal Études Balkaniques, made a presentation on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of its creation.

Prof. Dr. Roumiana Preshlenova presented the most significant achievements of the Institute in the last ten years, for which it received the high distinction.