"On this date 147 years ago, Bulgaria rose again on the map of Europe". This was said by Rumen Radev, after accepting the honorary formation of the representative units of the Bulgarian Army on the National Assembly Square.
"March 3 is the embodiment of the cherished ideal of generations of Bulgarians for a free, united and independent Bulgaria", added our head of state.
Radev also said: March 3 is not just an important date in our history, it is not just the signing of a peace treaty.
"We have trials ahead of us and we must go through them as a conscious people. History is not a reason for division, but a common destiny, a lived experience from which we must emerge wiser, more tolerant, more united and stronger", he pointed out.
"Today's generations are called to protect the Bulgaria that the Revivalists, the Aprilists and the volunteers bequeathed to us, to justify their sacrifice in the name of our freedom and sovereignty. Therefore, today we pay tribute to our heroes, to the warriors of the Tsar the Liberator and to all those who have been protecting a free and independent Bulgaria for a century and a half", said Rumen Radev.
"Today in Ukraine, the fratricidal bloodshed between the great-grandchildren of our liberators continues. This is also our Bulgarian pain. This war has exposed the fragile foundations of the world order and the false pathos that peace and human life are the highest value, that we can rely on someone else to defend our freedom, to guarantee our security and future", said the president. In his words, against this background, at this moment in our country there are politicians who are waging a war with monuments, rewriting the past, waving foreign flags, disarming the Bulgarian army and even demanding the cancellation of March 3rd.
"This will not be today's Bulgaria, because we know that the tragedy that is unfolding in Ukraine today began with the exposure of historical wounds, the desecration of monuments and faith in the good intentions of external factors - a faith that events have dramatically refuted", pointed out the head of state.
147 years ago, Bulgaria was resurrected on the map of Europe, he also said. “The army of Tsar Liberator Alexander II crushed the Ottoman Empire and brought freedom to the homeland. Today we pay tribute to the thousands of valiant warriors, Bulgarian volunteers, Russians and fighters from all the peoples of the then Russian Empire, whose bones rest on Shipka, near Pleven, Sheinovo and Stara Zagora and on the winter road to Sofia“, pointed out Radev. According to him, Bulgarian freedom does not come in vain. Today we honor all those who, with their deeds and sacrifices, brought this day closer, the president also said.
Radev thanked everyone who climbed Shipka today and filled the squares of Bulgaria to defend the historical truth and the future of our homeland.