site.btaBulgarian Opinion Makers Join Campaign Calling for Return of Abducted Ukrainian Children

Bulgarian opinion makers took part in a campaign urging the return of Ukrainian children abducted by the Russian Federation, organizers M3 Communications Group, Inc. said on Thursday. Participants in the initiative wore campaign sweatshirts with the messages “Bring Kids Back” and “#ChildrenAreNonNegotiable” to raise awareness of the issue.

M3 Communications Group, Inc. CEO Maxim Behar told BTA that the company sent sweatshirts to public figures who agreed to wear them. “We believe it is extremely important to make the world aware that there are Ukrainian children who must return home,” he added.

On April 16 and 17, political leaders and public figures from across Europe and Canada expressed solidarity with the campaign, advocating the return of thousands of Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia.

In Bulgaria, the initiative was supported by Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev; MPs Elisaveta Belobradova, Yavor Bozhankov, Stela Nikolova, Valentin Tonchev, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, Ukrainian Ambassador to Bulgaria Olesya Ilashchuk, MEP Andrey Kovatchev, Atlantic Club in Bulgaria President and former Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, Gergana Passy, President of PanEuropa Bulgaria and Director for European Affairs at the Atlantic Club, journalist Iva Doichinova, and Maxim Behar, among others.

Earlier on Thursday, Solomon Passy announced the initiative during the opening of the EU Meets the Balkans forum in Sofia.

According to international media reports, around 300 opinion makers from Europe and Canada have called for the return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred to Russia, stating that the issue must be non-negotiable in any future peace talks. French news agency AFP reported that Estonian President Alar Karis, two European commissioners, French and British deputies also participated in the campaign by wearing T-shirts in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, calling for the return of the “stolen children.” 

The Bring Kids Back UA initiative, launched by Ukraine in 2023 and backed by around 40 countries supporting Kyiv, estimates that more than 19,500 Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russia since the start of the war in February 2022. Only about 1,200 of them have been returned home.