site.btaObservances: August 23-24

August 23

The world:

- International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition;

- European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1891: Bulgaria, this country's first insurance company, has its articles of association endorsed by Prince Ferdinand I. Company goes into operation in Ruse on October 1, 1891.

1981: Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) Memorial Home is inaugurated on Mount Buzludzha (1,441 m) in Central Balkan Range, commemorating constituent congress of BCP's predecessor, Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, at nearby site on August 2, 1891. Memorial Home goes under construction in 1974 on voluntary contributions from BCP members. After fall of communist regime in 1989, memorial is abandoned and left to crumble.

2006: 40th National Assembly ratifies Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), signed in Geneva on November 3, 2004 (in force for Bulgaria as of February 22, 2007).

August 24

The world:

- National Day of Ukraine: Independence Day (1991).

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1915: Bulgaria and Turkiye sign a border rectification protocol. Turkiye cedes about 2,500 sq km on the western bank of the Maritsa River along which a railway runs to Dedeagac, Bulgaria's only Aegean port (now Alexandroupolis, Greece).

1945: Diplomatic relations with Poland are restored (first established in 1918 at legation level and severed in 1941). Upgraded to embassy level in 1948.

1954: Diplomatic relations established with Syria at legation level.

1974: Diplomatic relations established with Palestine by opening a PLO representation in Sofia.