site.btaBulgarian National Day Celebrated in Country's Consulate General in Odesa

On the occasion of Bulgaria’s National Day, March 3, the Consulate General of Bulgaria in Odesa organized on Sunday a meeting with representatives of the Bulgarian community, an exhibition of artists of Bulgarian origin, and a cultural programme. The event began with a minute of silence in memory of the Ukrainian and Bessarabian Bulgarian soldiers who have fallen in the war against Russia.

For the third consecutive year, the Consulate General hosted an official guest from Bulgaria - Rositsa Kirova, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Direct Participation of Citizens, Citizens' Complaints and Interaction with Civil Society in the 51st National Assembly.

“Your history is part of the history of Bulgaria, and you, as Ukrainian citizens of Bulgarian origin, can be proud of that,” Bulgaria’s Consul General in Odesa Svetoslav Ivanov told representatives of the Bulgarian community from Odesa, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions who had gathered for the event.

“Today’s date, March 1, takes me back four years (March 1, 2022), when, by decision of the Bulgarian government, we at the Consulate General in Odesa, together with the diplomatic mission in Kyiv, temporarily suspended our activities in Ukraine and were evacuated on the fifth day after the outbreak of the war. At that time, we managed to organise the successful evacuation of more than 500 Bulgarian and Ukrainian citizens (mainly women and children) to Bulgaria. You remember that in the first days of the war the situation in Kyiv was severe, and we, as Bulgaria’s diplomatic representation, bore the main burden of evacuating the maximum number of citizens,” the diplomat addressed those present.

He noted that after the Consulate General resumed its activities in May 2023, he had pledged to pursue active cultural diplomacy and to remain close to the Bulgarian community in the region so that they could feel Bulgaria’s support, and to organise annual celebrations of Bulgaria’s National Day, March 3, as well as the Day of the Bessarabian Bulgarians on October 29.

On behalf of Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Nadezhda Neynsky, the Consul General congratulated those present on Bulgaria’s National Day and wished above all for a just peace and for them to keep their Bulgarian roots in their hearts.

“Bulgaria is wherever at least one Bulgarian heart beats, and here there are many, and it is an honour for me to be among you again,” Rositsa Kirova said in her address. “Bulgaria’s National Day - March 3 - is a day of gratitude and tribute. A day when it becomes even clearer that the homeland is not a geographical concept, but a spiritual unity of its sons and daughters. That is why the towns and villages inhabited by Bessarabian Bulgarians are dear to me, because some of the brightest minds of our homeland drew up their plans for independence here,” she stressed.

Kirova donated 4,850 notebooks, textbooks and teaching aids to 12 Bulgarian Sunday schools in Odesa Region.