Veliko Tarnovo Hosts BTA Conference on 150th Anniversary of April Uprising

A conference dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the 1876 April Uprising was held at the BTA National Press Club in Veliko Tarnovo on Sunday.

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said that the media can amplify the resonance of an event to the point of changing public opinion. He recalled how the inaugural forum was held in Ruse (on the Danube), followed by a conference in Vratsa (Northwestern Bulgaria) and in Sliven (Southeastern Bulgaria), and noted that the most interesting of the conversations will be included in the April issue of LIK magazine, which BTA will dedicate to the 150th anniversary of the April Uprising and will present in Koprivshtitsa on April 20. Valchev pointed out that the April Uprising highlights a lesson for modern media, namely the power of exposing truth to the wider world.

The April Uprising is the moral foundation on which Bulgaria exists today, commented caretaker Culture Minister Nayden Todorov. "If it weren’t for the sacrifice of these people, there would be no pressure from all sides, there would be no Russo-Turkish War, there would be no March 3rd,” he pointed out, noting that the beginning of modern Bulgaria for him is precisely on April 20. He expressed hope that April 20 will be celebrated as a national holiday in Bulgaria in the future.

Veliko Tarnovo Regional History Museum Director Dr. Ivan Tsarov emphasized that organizing a national celebration of the 150th anniversary of the April Uprising is long overdue. He noted that the Regional History Museum is staffed by specialists who have been dealing with this topic for years, adding that some of the smaller museums in the region have numerous studies on the topic and that it is important how they are presented.

There is no other town in Bulgaria that celebrates its holiday on such a large scale and with such patriotism as Veliko Tarnovo does, said Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Prof. Atanas Semov. He stated that the April Uprising was a powerful, long and persistently organized nationwide uprising throughout the country and that its leaders were not just rebel leaders but established statesmen who showed exceptionally democratic thinking. 

Bulgarians need their heroes so that they can compare themselves with them, Sofia University Rector Prof. Georgi Valchev said. "Through these heroes we must realize that by working for ourselves and for our own prosperity, we also need to work for the prosperity of society and the State," he emphasized and stressed that people must stop hiding behind the platitudes of words and restore their true meaning, so that when a person says something, they stand by it.

The April Uprising is part of the grand opera of Bulgarian modern history, stressed Veliko Tarnovo University Rector Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov. He thanked BTA for the initiative, which he pointed out is necessary, especially as no such conference has been organized in connection with the anniversary of the April Uprising in 2026. He commented that regardless of whether the April Uprising was successful or not, for him as a historian, the uprising, the Russo-Turkish War of 1878 and the Bulgarian Constituent Assembly are three parts of one large whole that took place from the spring of 1876 to 1879.

The graduating class of cadets of the National Military University in 2026 will bear the name "April" in honor of the 150th anniversary of the April Uprising, Brigadier General Stancho Kaykov, Commandant of the Vasil Levski National Military University, said.

Veliko Tarnovo Regional Governor Valentin Mihaylov stated that it is important to think about what it means to be a patriot and how Bulgarians preserve memory without allowing it to be held hostage by political passions. He recalled that a century and a half ago, ordinary people such as teachers, priests, craftsmen and peasants rose up against slavery in the name of freedom and the future. "They paid with their blood for the daring act, but their feat shook the world and put Bulgaria on the map," Mihaylov emphasized. 

“May the martyrs protect the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo, and be its patron,” Veliko Tarnovo Mayor Daniel Panov emphasized, adding that Bulgaria's politicians should take an example from the deeds of these great Bulgarian leaders from the Middle Ages. He stressed that he supports the call to make the date of the April Uprising, April 20, an official holiday in Bulgaria, so that young people and students can learn more about the great Bulgarians who participated in the uprising. 

Journalist Boyko Vassilev, who moderated the conference, noted that "this discussion turned into a conversation about today's Bulgaria." He emphasized that it is important to talk about what part of the April Uprising is relevant today, but not through elementary comparisons that do not work in favor of everyday life, but through the questions of what part of modern Bulgaria was set in place back in April 1876.