The decision of the Balkanfila Working Group, which was voted during the last meeting in Maribor on 24 May 2012, is to support the proposal of Adria Alps Group concerning the limitation of exhibition fees. Let me explain why. Presenting a collection to a high level exhibition is a dream and goal of every collector. Exhibiting stimulates collecting and is a key factor for increasing the number and quality of personal collections and subsequently it stimulates the development and enhances the quality of philately in the different countries. Our understanding is that tremendous expences for exhibiting has negative impact on philately. The role of National Federations is to protect the interests of their members and to work strongly for the development of the philately, so we can not accept the idea that the level of fees is a private problem between the organizers of an exhibition and the collectors. Let the limitations for presenting an exhibit in World exhibitions be the quality of the exhibit, and not the financial accessibility.
Finally, few words about the Balkanfila Group. We have 11 member countries, 9 of them – FEPA members. The very first Regional Philatelic Exhibition in the World was Balkanfila, held in Varna, Bulgaria in 1965, a fact that indicates our strong traditions and our long-standing commitment to the advancement, popularisation and development of philately.