site.btaPresident Iotova Calls for Return to Diplomacy, Human Rights and Peace

President Iliana Iotova called for a return to the value of diplomacy, human rights worldwide and peace at a traditional March 3 reception in celebration of Bulgaria's National Day on Tuesday.

Speaking at an event at the Central Military Club, Iotova described March 3 as Bulgaria’s “sacred” date and said the country set its national holiday on a day symbolizing peace and reconciliation.

“Our call on Tuesday is to restore the value of diplomacy, human rights worldwide, and peace,” Iotova said at the traditional March 3 reception at the Central Military Club in Sofia.

“Every nation has many dates in its history. For us, March 3 is the sacred one. We chose our national holiday on a day that stands for peace and reconciliation,” Iotova added.

Iotova said that in “worrying and dangerous” times, people are again reassessing what freedom means to them. “What matters most is to be free within ourselves. Then our hearts and souls will be open to the virtues and values that make us human. This is our great responsibility. Our parents ensured we grew up as decent people. They gave us the privilege and happiness of living in a world at peace. Now it is our responsibility to our children and grandchildren. We must pass on peace, calm and the opportunities to develop, each according to their talent,” she said.

Iotova said no reason or cause can justify that “in recent years, children have been born who know nothing but the ashes of war.” She added that changing this is not the work of one person, but something people everywhere can do. “Let this day, and the symbol Bulgaria offers the world with March 3, be a place and a space where people reach out to one another from every corner of the world, so there is a future for our children and prosperity,” she said.

“There is no Bulgarian heart or soul that does not tremble now with the force of the Bulgarian heroes who left behind their blood and bones. The monuments are silent witnesses, but they are not just granite and stone. They bear witness to greatness and glory,” Iotova added.

Iotova thanked those present for attending, saying their presence meant a great deal. She also thanked caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gurov and Chief of Defence Admiral Emil Eftimov for attending “in these troubled and dangerous times.”

Attendees included Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil, Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev, ministers from the caretaker cabinet, MPs, Constitutional Court judges, commanders from different branches of the armed forces, Central Election Commission Chair Kameliya Neykova, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) Director General Milen Mitev, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) Director General Milena Milotinova, and diplomats.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iotova reviewed the guard of honour of Bulgarian Army representative units. In her address, she said March 3 is not just a special date in Bulgaria’s calendar, but a measure of “who we are, our belonging, our memory and our identity.”