Giurgiu Played Strategic Role in Bulgarian Revolutionary Activities, Says Romanian Deputy Mayor

Andrei Kyuchukov

Giurgiu Deputy Mayor Ionel Muscalu speaking at a BTA-organized conference in Ruse that commemorates a December 1875 decision by the Giurgiu Revolutionary Committee to launch the 1876 April Uprising in Bulgaria, Ruse, on the Danube, December 17, 2025 (BTA Photo/Bisser Todorov)

Ruse, on the Danube,

17.12.2025 13:06

(BTA)

In the spring 1876, Giurgiu was not a marginal town but a strategically important Danube port closely monitored during the Balkan conflicts, and served as a hub for Bulgarian revolutionaries while remaining under Ottoman surveillance with the Romanian authorities turning a blind eye, Giurgiu Deputy Mayor Ionel Muscalu said here Wednesday. He was speaking at a BTA-organized conference in Ruse that commemorates a December 1875 decision by the Giurgiu Revolutionary Committee to launch the 1876 April Uprising in Bulgaria.

The event brought together academics, public officials, diplomats, journalists, and students from Bulgaria and Romania. It is part of a joint initiative of BTA, the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), and Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), called “14 Centuries of Bulgaria in Europe.” It aims to commemorate anniversaries in Bulgarian history that are significant for European history through to 2032, when 1,400 years will be marked since the establishment in 632 of the first Bulgarian state in Europe - Old Great Bulgaria.

“Giurgiu was a city ‘saturated’ with information, where Bulgarian revolutionary committees, local Romanian authorities, and Ottoman agents all operated simultaneously,” Muscalu said.

He explained that the Bulgarian revolutionary committee in Giurgiu met in hotels, private homes, and a house called The Barracks, coordinating movements and communications with Bucharest and other Danube ports. Ottoman attempts to control revolutionary activity, including monitoring the distribution of Hristo Botev’s newspapers Zname and Nova Bulgaria, were largely ineffective. Muscalu noted that when Botev’s detachment boarded the ship Radetski, no one in Giurgiu was surprised, illustrating the town’s role as a space of controlled tolerance and calculated neutrality.

Muscalu also highlighted the historical and contemporary connection between Giurgiu and Ruse, including joint initiatives in education and the promotion of Botev’s legacy.

/NF/