Empathy and concern - this is what the actions of the Bulgarian state in the first hours of the full-scale war that started in the state of Israel speak for. Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov categorically condemned the terrorist attacks of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas and the violence against innocent Israeli citizens. "I express full solidarity with the Israeli people. My thoughts are with the victims of these attacks. I condemn terrorism in all its forms," wrote the Bulgarian Prime Minister.
The Bulgarian cabinet prepared the evacuation of the Bulgarian nationals who wished to leave Israel - the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel spoke with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel Eli Cohen and the Bulgarian Ambassador to Israel in order to ensure the safe movement of our compatriots to the Ben Gurion airport, from where two government Airbus flights have been made so far. Over 150 Bulgarians returned to Bulgaria with them, as well as citizens of other countries. Thus, Bulgaria became the first country to organize a mission for the evacuation of its own and foreign citizens from the State of Israel after the beginning of the war with Hamas.
Transport Minister Georgi Gvozdeikov has announced that the evacuations will continue as long as there are Bulgarians who want to leave Israel. It also became clear that, if possible, Bulgaria will respond to the stated desire of other EU countries for Bulgaria to transport also their citizens.
Due to the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, dozens of international flights have been cancelled or delayed. "We want all Bulgarians to know that the state takes care of them," said the Speaker of the Parliament, Rosen Zhelyazkov, when welcoming the first group of evacuated Bulgarian citizens.
Tears of joy, relief and gratitude for the evacuation - this is how people's emotions can be described:
"I learned that all flights to Bulgaria were being cancelled and I contacted the consulate to see if there was any solution. I've lived in Israel for 15 years, so I'm not afraid of such things, but I really think this will be a little more difficult," says our compatriot, who landed on Bulgarian soil with the government plane.
Another Bulgarian who travelled to Israel for the purpose of tourism explained to the BNR reporter Andrey Borisov:
"On Saturday, when the hostilities started, we contacted the consulate of the Republic of Bulgaria in Israel, presented a list of our group, we kept in touch constantly, we received assistance. We were in contact all the time, for which we are very grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ambassador, the consul. A very big role was also played by the presence of the transport minister on the plane, which gave diplomatic status to the flight”.
"We feel very good, we are grateful to be back on our beautiful land! We thank the government, we thank our motherland for showing us great love and taking us out of Israel”, says another elderly Bulgarian woman who travelled on a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulcher. “We were supposed to fly out yesterday, but there were attacks, rockets and we we went down to the bunkers. We were very worried, people are suffering a lot there. We pray for them and may God lead them out of this war."
Many Bulgarians are cancelling their bookings for trips to Israel in the coming days, with tour operators also cancelling trips pending the development of the war, the website TravelNews.bg reported.
The tour guide and translator Teodora Asher personally participated in the organization of the evacuation of a group of Bulgarian tourists from the warring country. She told BNR that her son was on the battlefield. "Here we are talking about a large-scale mobilization - regular army, reserve officers and soldiers - all units of the Israeli army are mobilized, and the first and main concern is to locate, release and return the hostages, who are civilians, whole families, including many children," she says.
"We must not allow chaos, violence and fear to overtake us", said Theodora Asher from Israel categorically, and she thanked all those who called to be interested in the current state of affairs through the air of the BNR.
"There is a feeling of empathy, solidarity, concern. Because from the earliest times there is some moral code that applies even in times of war, and scenes of captured, kidnapped, violated civilians automatically make one side the losing side, even before they reach the final phase of the war," says Mrs. Asher. The country where she lives and works is in a full-scale war for the first time in half a century, the death toll since the start of the first shelling two days ago has exceeded a thousand people.
"The situation is what it is and it demands from us both composure and mobilization. In parallel, we are inundated with a flow of information from all types of sources. We must focus on information that is verified and official. We must not allow chaos, violence and fear to take us over. The sky over Israel is, in a sense, quieting down. This stage where Israel is under fire is beginning to subside. The hostilities are changing direction towards the northern border and the Gaza Strip.''
However, Theodora Asher recalls that the Gaza Strip is a piece of land (36 km north-south and 10 km east-west), on which live nearly 2 million people, a large part of whom are also civilians. "We can only hope and pray that the bloodshed will stop," she says with pain in her voice.
Text: Elena Karkalanova (based on interviews of Andrey Borissov and Lora Tarkoleva from BNR's Horizon channel)
Photos: BTA, BGNES, EPA/BGNES
Translated and published by Rositsa Petkova
The exit poll results of the sociological agency "Gallup International Balkan", a partner of the BNR in covering the vote, show that 6 parties and coalitions would enter the 50th National Assembly. The agency's data registers..
Ivan Tsankov is Bulgarian who has been living in Argentina for more than 20 years and is the secretary of the "Bulgarians in Argentina" civic association. He and his wife Aksinia maintain the website "Los bulgaros - the Bulgarians in..
The election day in Brussels is unfolding amid an unusually sunny weather, reports Sibila Stoyanova, secretary of one of the two polling stations at the Bulgarian Embassy in the Belgian capital. There are a total of 16 polling stations in Belgium. It is..
+359 2 9336 661