site.btaCeremony Held at Bulgarian Military Cemetery in Vukovar

Participants in the traditional commemorative ceremonies and rituals at the Bulgarian war memorials and cemeteries of the Second World War, organized by the Ministry of Defence and the Union of War Veterans of Bulgaria attended a ceremony at the Bulgarian military cemetery in Vukovar.

Those present were greeted by Colonel Ivan Studenkov, Military, Air and Naval Attaché of Bulgaria in Croatia. At the ceremony, led by Kristina Alexova from the Military Monuments and Military Patriotic Education Department of the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence, Colonel Georgi Kraynov, Deputy Head of the Vasil Levski National Military University in Veliko Tarnovo, spoke about the heroism of the Bulgarian soldiers. 

Wreaths were laid at the war memorial ossuary, where the remains of 1,027 Bulgarian officers and soldiers are preserved, on behalf of the Bulgarian Minister of Defence, the Bulgarian Embassy in Zagreb, the Union of War Veterans of Bulgaria and the Vukovar City Hall. A common wreath was laid by representatives of the Croatian Ministries of War Veterans, of Defence, and of Foreign and European Affairs.

Wreaths were also laid at the Memorial Cemetery for the victims of the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995).

At a commemorative luncheon, an order of Bulgarian Minister of Defence Atanas Zapryanov was read out for the awarding of a badge of honour of the Ministry of Defence to Rashko Ivanov, President of the Bulgarian National Community in Croatia, and to Diana Glasnova, Editor-in-Chief of the Rodna Rech magazine, published in Zagreb as a unit of the National Community. The award is conferred "for their overall contribution to the preservation of the Bulgarian military heritage in the Republic of Croatia, honouring the memory of the Bulgarian servicepersons who died in the Second World War and promoting Bulgarian military history."

The events in Vukovar were attended by Bulgarian Ambassador to Croatia Iva Kruleva, Rashko Ivanov, representative of the Bulgarian national minority in Zagreb Pero Diankov and Bulgarians living in Croatia.