Bulgaria celebrates today, March 3, the 145th anniversary of its liberation from Ottoman rule. Events are held all over the country.
This year, the town of Gabrovo in north-central Bulgaria hosted local celebrations on Mount Shipka in the Central Balkan Mountains which began in the morning with a flag-raising ceremony in the town square.
Prime Minister Galab Donov participated in the commemoration at the Freedom Monument on Mount Shipka this morning. He attended a memorial service for the fallen. He delivered a speech on the occasion of the anniversary and took part in the wreath-laying ceremony in Shipka.
President Rumen Radev and Vice President Iliana Yotova attended the flag raising ceremony at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in Sofia, where they paid tribute to those who died for Bulgaria’s freedom. Twenty salutes were fired during the national anthem.
In the evening, the president inspected the troops in the square in front of Parliament and made a speech. Vice President Iliana Yotova also attended the event.
Afterwards, President Radev hosted the traditional official reception on the occasion of the National Day at the Central Military Club in Sofia.
The anniversary events were also attended by Prime Minister Donov, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov and Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov.
On March 3rd, soldiers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Joint Special Command, Logistics Support Command, as well as from higher military schools participate in the solemn ceremonies of raising the flag and laying wreaths and flowers at the memorials of the fallen for freedom in many cities of the country.
Events were held in Plovdiv (Philippines) in southern Bulgaria, the Black Sea city of Varna, Sliven in south-central Bulgaria, Sandanski and Chepelare in the south.
The National Day is celebrated in many places around the world.
The statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado Hill in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is illuminated tonight in the colors of the Bulgarian national flag as part of the joint initiative of the Bulgarian Football Association and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Bulgarian flag flies at City Hall in Montreal, Canada, while the Frederick Douglass Bridge in Washington and the antennas of the Willis Tower in Chicago are illuminated in the colors (white-green-red) of the Bulgarian national flag.
Source: capital
