site.btaBulgarian Foreign Ministry Strongly Condemns Terrorist Attack on First Day of Hanukkah Holiday in Sydney

The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned the terrorist attack against people celebrating the first day of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah in Sydney, the Ministry said in a position published on its website on Sunday.

"This brutal crime, motivated by hatred, took the lives of 12 people and many others were injured," said the Ministry. It offered sincere condolences to the bereaved and expressed hope for a swift and full recovery of those injured. The Foreign Ministry added that religious intolerance and extremism, as well as manifestations of ethnic hatred, violate the fundamental values and principles of humanity.

The Foreign Ministry called for "resistance to all acts of hate speech and hate crime, including those motivated by antisemitism". The statement noted that this latest tragic instance of antisemitism highlights the importance of preserving the memory of the Holocaust and its lessons so as to prevent a recurrence of similar crimes against humanity in the future.

Earlier in the day, the Foreign Ministry said no Bulgarian citizens were reported among the casualties in the Bondi Beach shooting in Sydney.