site.btaPresident Radev: "I Welcomed Russian Patriarch Kirill as Spiritual Leader, He Chose to Leave as Politician"

Plovdiv, South Central Bulgaria, March 13 (BTA) - "I welcomed His Holiness Patriarch Kirill as a spiritual leader. He chose to leave as a politician," Bulgarian President Rumen Radev told journalists here on Tuesday in his first comment on controversial remarks that the head of the Russian Orthodox Church made at the end of a visit to Bulgaria earlier in March for observances of Bulgaria's liberation from Ottoman rule 140 years ago.

Closing his three-day visit to Bulgaria, the Patriarch told reporters he had been hurt by State officials saying that Poland, Lithuania and Finland had played almost the same role as Russia in Bulgaria's liberation. Also, a video on the website of the Russian Orthodox Church showed a visibly angry Patriarch Kirill lecturing Bulgarian President Radev about what he saw as the right interpretation of history.

Radev commented on Tuesday that he was not only a President but also a Christian and, therefore, he did not believe that Patriarch Kirill was seeking to cause a rift between the two peoples. In his opinion, however, the question remains who tried to "hijack" the shared celebration of the anniversary of Bulgaria's liberation and turn it into a cause for division. The head of State also wondered who was trying to take advantage of the crisis in the relations between the two countries.

Radev was adamant that Bulgaria's gratitude to Russia was the gratitude of free people who remember and respect their history and whose gratitude was not at the expense of their dignity. He added that he upheld this position very clearly in the presence of the Bulgarian Patriarch and respected Bulgarian metropolitans who attended the meeting.

The President said he will not yield to emotions but will work for the revival of Bulgarian-Russian relations which "others have been ruining for years and are still doing so."

Asked to specify who is ruining relations between the two countries, Radev answered: "hysterical political wheeler-dealers, demagogues and paid analysts in both Russia and Bulgaria. There are circles which exploit the crisis in our relations and have no interest in seeing it overcome. These should not have a leading role in our relations."

The President sees "the distortion of history on both sides" as part of this crisis. "I am President of Bulgaria, and I stood up for this very clearly at the meeting with the Russian Patriarch," he stressed. The video posted by the Patriarchate of Moscow and All Rus' showed only Kirill's statement and not Radev's response, which makes the President think that "Patriarch Kirill was drawn into a political frame-up". "I am convinced that Moscow will reconsider the case," Radev said.

He was in Plovdiv on the occasion of the Day of 68th Special Forces Brigade, March 18, when it celebrates the anniversary of the formation of its predecessor paratrooper company 75 years ago.