site.btaDay of Bulgarian Language Marked in Romanian Parliament

Bulgarian speech was heard in the Romanian Parliament on Tuesday. From the parliamentary rostrum, the representative of the Bulgarian minority in the Romanian Parliament, Georgi Nakov, congratulated his colleagues and Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Romania Radko Vlaykov on the occasion of May 24 - the Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture and of Slavic Script, and the Day of the Bulgarian Language in Romania.

“Recently I gave an interview in which I was asked about the rights of national minorities in Romania. My answer began with the fact that in Romania the languages of national minorities have official holidays established by law. How many other countries can boast such a system for the protection of national minorities?” asked Georgi Nakov, who is also Honorary Consul of Bulgaria in Timisoara and Chair of the Union of Banat Bulgarians in Romania.

During his speech, he recalled that it was precisely in Vinga, in Romania’s Arad County, that the first literary standard of the Bulgarian language was adopted.

“That is why we Banat Bulgarians feel richest from this point of view, because we use both the Latin alphabet for our dialect and the Cyrillic alphabet for the literary Bulgarian language,” Georgi Nakov noted.

The MP also emphasized the fact that the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius - authors of the Glagolitic alphabet, transformed into Cyrillic by St. Clement of Ohrid - were chosen as patrons of the Theoretical Lyceum in Star Beshenov, the oldest school founded by Bulgarians abroad.

“Throughout history, Romania and the Romanians have continuously played an important role in everything that means being Bulgarian. Romania was the safest refuge and the place from which the Bulgarian revolution developed. A place which today we call a second home,” Nakov concluded emotionally.

MP Gabriel-Froninel Florea from the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) also took the floor.

“On the occasion of May 24, I send a message of respect to everyone celebrating this holiday. The Bulgarian language carries the history, memory, traditions and identity of a people who have made an important contribution to the culture of the entire Balkan region. Romania and Bulgaria are connected through history and culture, through the Black Sea, through the Danube and above all through mutual respect. Over time, our peoples have demonstrated that good neighbourly relations are stronger than any differences,” he said.

The representative of AUR expressed the opinion that the future of Romania and Bulgaria should be built through more investment, connectivity and joint projects that unite the communities on both sides of the Danube. At the end of his speech, he delivered greetings in Bulgarian.