site.btaPresident Radev: Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising Surpassed Framework of Its Era, Its Immediate Military and Political Tasks

The Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising surpassed the framework of the era, its immediate military and political tasks, said President Rumen Radev on Wednesday at the opening of the solemn scientific session dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising at Sofia University.

The President stressed that Ilinden has become a symbol of the rebellious Bulgarian spirit and a moral banner of a long struggle for human rights, dignity and freedom.

In his words, the insurrection also has an important significance in Bulgaria's contemporary relations with the Republic of North Macedonia. "It is up to us to make it one of the important factors leading to the solution of the problems based on the historical truth and to the rapprochement of our countries in the common European future," the Head of State said.

According to him, the Bulgarian character of this insurrection is indisputable. "The rebellion also stood thanks to the military skills of a number of Bulgarian officers and many Bulgarian volunteers", he added, highlighting that Ilinden embodies the dreams of its bright minds for freedom, their dreams to turn their land into a land of equality and justice for all nations living there.

"Bulgarians and citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia bow to these ideals. And these ideals are in full harmony with the values and principles on which the European Union is built. That is why I believe that the state leadership of North Macedonia will be guided by these European principles and ideals in order to achieve constitutional and comprehensive equality for the Bulgarians in North Macedonia," the President said.

"For three months the insurgents successfully fought a large Ottoman regular army, but at the high cost of several thousand civilian casualties - women, children and elderly", said Acad. Julian Revalsky of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. "The uprising quickly came into the focus of European diplomatic representatives, each of them had their own biases, but despite their differences, the diplomats had a common and unchanging position that this was a Bulgarian uprising," Revalsky added. 

The event was organized by the Faculty of History of Sofia University, the Institute for Historical Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Macedonian Scientific Institute. Participants were Bulgarian and foreign scholars alike.