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Rosen Plevneliev: A strong Bulgaria needs education, spirituality, consistent work and a clear vision for the future

Education, spirituality, consistent work and a clear vision – these are necessary to ensure a strong future for Bulgaria, President Rosen Plevneliev said in his speech at the official ceremony in the capital on the occasion of Bulgaria’s National Day on March 3. "Today we not only honour the victims, but also we are aware that we must work for the fulfillment of the hopes and towards finding the genuine and true road that modern Bulgaria must take – the road that leads us to dream of a pure and sacred Republic in the interest of its citizens,” the President said.

Liberation was the dream of the Bulgarian Revival come true and the "first spark in national consciousness", already ignited two and a half centuries earlier by Paisii Hilendarski, the President said in his speech. The road mapped by Paisii passed through the establishment and strengthening of the new Bulgarian education, in the universal struggle for religious and spiritual freedom, through the heroism and sacrifice of the revolutionaries as Botev, Levski Rakovski and Karavelov, Hadji Dimitar and Stefan Karadja, popular rebel chieftains Panayot Hitov and Filip Totyu, apostles, martyrs and heroes of the April Uprising and the titanic self-sacrifice of the Bulgarian volunteers.

Fourth, and similarly important and significant, the President said, was the way in which the young Bulgaria had managed to build a modern state. Bulgaria not only achieved the most democratic constitution in Europe – the Turnovo Constitution, but also managed to maintain its sovereignty. "The efforts of Stefan Stambolov and Zahari Stoyanov, the elders Slaveykov and Vazov, of generations old and new of young patriots that led Bulgaria to its unification and later to its full independence," President Plevneliev said in his speech.

The Commander-in-Chief accepted the salute of representatives of the armed forces and congratulated them on the national holiday. The ceremony was attended by Vice President Margarita Popova, the President of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, MPs, Bulgaria’s military commanders, diplomats and many citizens.