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Bulgaria celebrates Liberation Day

Photo: BGNES
Official ceremonies held throughout Bulgaria mark the country’s national holiday – 3rd of March. On this day in 1878, in the town of San Stefano, present day Yeşilköy, a suburb of Istanbul, Russia and the then Ottoman Empire signed a peace treaty which put an end to the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The treaty provided the creation of the autonomous Principality of Bulgaria after nearly 500 years of Ottoman rule.
An official ceremony was held at the site of the Unknown Soldier and St. Sofia basilica during which the President Georgi Parvanov, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the Parliamentary Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva were present. During the national anthem, the country’s flag was raised and twenty gun salutes were fired.
Despite the heavy snowfall, thousands of Bulgarians climbed the Shipka Pass, where the decisive battles between Russia and the Ottoman Empire took place, to celebrate 134th anniversary of the liberation from Ottoman rule. Many Bulgarian communities across the globe also marked Liberation Day.
A number of heads of state and international politicians sent greetings to the Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described 3rd March as “an opportunity for Bulgaria to celebrate its proud culture and history and a chance for the country to show its role in the global community.” Pope Benedict XVI said he would pray for the Bulgarian people to find the necessary moral strength in its human and spiritual heritage which is needed to go ahead.


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