site.btaBulgaria’s Leaders Address Nation at Monument to Liberty

On Bulgaria’s National Day, March 3, National Assembly Chair Nikola Minchev paid tribute to the heroes of Mt Shipka and addressed the few thousands of people who gathered at the Monument to Liberty (the scene of a decisive battle during the 1877-1878 war in which 7,500 Bulgarian volunteers and Russian soldiers held the Shipka Pass against a 30,000-strong Turkish army on August 11, 1877).

National Assembly Chair Minchev, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, Innovation Minister Daniel Lorer, Labour and Social Policy Minister Georgi Gyokov, Transport and Communications Minister Nikolay Sabev, MPs, and citizens laid wreaths and flowers at the Monument of Liberty.

Minchev stressed that March 3 means liberty as on this historical day the dream of the Bulgarian revolutionaries came true. Freedom, independence, peace and democracy should be protected relentlessly and at all costs, he added.

Prime Minister Petkov also addressed the people, calling for а unification. He said that Bulgarians should not divide into groups. “Both Russians and Ukrainians fought so we can have our freedom, independence and unity. All Bulgarians should understand that today it is not the day for political slogans. It is time to say ‘Bulgaria above all’,” Petkov added.

Minchev and Petkov were booed by members and supporters of the Vazrazhdane political party who also attended the National Day celebrations. The National Assembly Chair and Prime Minister were outshouted with calls of “Resign!”, “Traitors!”, “No to NATO!”, among others.