site.btaPresident Radev and Hungary's President Sulyok Mark Bulgarian-Hungarian Friendship Day in Smolyan

President Rumen Radev welcomed Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok to Smolyan on Sunday to mark Bulgarian-Hungarian Friendship Day and the centenary of Hungarian poet and translator Laszlo Nagy.

The presidents visited the Laszlo Nagy House-Museum and later attended an exhibition and a music-and-poetry performance at the Nikolay Haytov Rhodope Drama Theatre.

“I am a symbolic guest of the Hungarian president, who chose Smolyan for us to mark Bulgarian-Hungarian Friendship Day together,” Radev said. He added that it is no coincidence that the great Hungarian poet, translator and painter Laszlo Nagy found his Bulgarian home in the Rhodopes.

“On Bulgarian-Hungarian Friendship Day we recall all those people, events and gestures of closeness that bring our nations still closer. For us Bulgarians it is even more meaningful that this day falls on the feast of St Ivan of Rila, the heavenly patron of the Bulgarian people,” Radev said.

He added that symbolic of the friendship between the two nations is the fact that the first Bulgarian cultural mission abroad was in Budapest, and that the Bulgarian community in Hungary dates back to the 14th century and remains an active and respected part of Hungarian society today.

Radev thanked Smolyan Mayor Nikolay Melemov and Smolyan Municipality for preserving and caring so well for the Laszlo Nagy House.

Sulyok said it was moving to commemorate this emblematic day together and to celebrate the modern cooperation and sincere friendship that link Bulgaria and Hungary. “Friendship between two ancient, Christian and European peoples, this is our shared history. Peoples lashed by the storms of history, struck down by conquering empires and ideologies, yet surviving, staying strong and proudly preserving their culture, identity, faith and values,” Sulyok said.

The two visited the Laszlo Nagy House-Museum, which displays manuscripts, translations, drawings, personal effects and photographs of the Hungarian writer, who brought Bulgarian songs and poetry to Hungarian audiences. Nagy is an Honorary Citizen of Smolyan and the recipient of a number of high distinctions, including the PEN Club Bulgaria Prize (1959), the Order of Cyril and Methodius (1969) and the International Botev Prize (1976).

Later, the presidents visited the Nikolay Haytov Rhodope Drama Theatre for the opening of the exhibition “In Memory of a Charisma” and a music-and-poetry concert dedicated to Bulgarian-Hungarian Friendship Day and the centenary of Nagy’s birth.

Radev arrived in Smolyan in his personal car, accompanied by his wife Desislava Radeva. Asked if he had informed his Hungarian counterpart about his use of a personal vehicle for travel, Radev replied that they maintain excellent relations and that Sulyok is fully aware of the situation. "Many of the developments here are clear to him," Radev noted.

Bulgarian-Hungarian Friendship Day is observed annually on October 19, which coincides with the feast of St Ivan of Rila, the heavenly patron of the Bulgarian people.

Nagy (1925–1978) had strong ties with Bulgaria and the Rhodopes; he translated Bulgarian poetry into Hungarian, popularized Bulgarian folk songs, and is commemorated in Smolyan with a house-museum and the status of Honorary Citizen.