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Radev: The Greatest Asset in Relations between Bulgaria and RSA Is the Support and the Bond between the People, Built in the Struggle against Apartheid

The head of State opens the exhibition "Bulgarian Support for the Struggle of the South African People against Apartheid and Social Discrimination"

The greatest asset in the relations between Bulgaria and the Republic of South Africa is the support and the bond between the people, built in the struggle against apartheid. This is what President Rumen Radev said at the opening of the exhibition "Bulgarian Support for the Struggle of the South African People against Apartheid and Social Discrimination" at Freedom Park in the South African capital Pretoria. The exhibition features photographs and documents from state archives and private collections reflecting this country's contribution to the struggle for freedom and for the abolition of racial and social discrimination. According to the President, the exhibition reveals the deep friendly relations between the two countries, which go far beyond the diplomatic relations, established 31 years ago.

Rumen Radev also stressed that the Bulgarian people had always been empathetic and compassionate towards oppressed peoples and ethnic groups. After its liberation and restoration of its independence in the 19th century, Bulgaria adopted one of the most democratic constitutions in Europe, which stipulated that every slave who had set foot on Bulgarian soil became free.  

Many people found refuge in Bulgaria in the turbulent years that followed, the President recalled. In 2023, we have also marked the 80th anniversary of the rescue of 50 thousand Bulgarian Jews. We are the only country in Europe that has managed, with the courage and spirit of its people, to rescue its colleagues, neighbours and classmates, Rumen Radev said. In this spirit, it was natural for this country to support the South African people in their struggle for freedom and to declare its solidarity at the political level, in its international activities, by opening Bulgaria's universities to students and sheltering political exiles. This, the President said, was also a decisive step in bringing our peoples closer together.

I believe that this exhibition obliges us to preserve our friendly relations, promote them and pass them on to future generations, the President said in his speech.

The event was attended by Dr Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, by representatives of the diplomatic corps, and of the Bulgarian community as well as by citizens of the Republic of South Africa who had completed their education in Bulgaria.