site.btaPresident Radev Honours Bulgarian Soldiers at Vukovar Military Cemetery in Croatia

President Rumen Radev will visit the Bulgarian military cemetery in Vukovar, Croatia, today, July 15, where he will pay tribute to the memory of Bulgarian officers and soldiers who died in the final phase of World War II, the President's press secretariat said.

A visit to the Vukovar Memorial Cemetery, dedicated to those who died in Croatia’s Homeland War, is also planned.

Monday is the second day of President Radev’s official visit to Croatia.

The Bulgarian military cemetery in Vukovar

In memory of the Bulgarians who lost their lives in the Slavonia region during the closing phase of World War II, a military memorial was built near Vukovar in 1965, along with an ossuary containing the remains of 1,027 officers and soldiers of the First Bulgarian Army, according to BTA’s Reference Department.

the memorial was destroyed during the Yugoslav Wars (1991–1995) but was subsequently restored. A commemorative plaque was placed there in 1999.

In 2002, the Bulgarian Embassy in Zagreb and the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence completed a three-year restoration of the Bulgarian military cemetery in Vukovar. On April 26, 2016, a monument was consecrated bearing the names of all Bulgarians buried at the site.

Each year around May 6, the Day of Valour and Holiday of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, a memorial ceremony is held at the site in honour of the fallen Bulgarian soldiers.