site.btaRussian Patriarch Kirill Himself Suggested Dropping Subject of Russo-Turkish War, Paying of Respect

Sofia, March 12 (BTA) - During his March 4 session with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, Russian Patriarch Kirill himself proposed that the subject of the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War and the paying of respect be dropped, it emerged from a statement of Protoiereus Nikolai Georgiev, Head of the Public Relations Department of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

The statement was apparently prompted by a Mach 8 position of the GERB Parliamentary Group, which called on the President, owing to the heightened public interest, to declassify the verbatim account of his talks with the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill "so as to dispel doubts about any divergence between the national positions as stated at [the Patriarch's sessions with] the Prime Minister and the head of State."

"The talks of the head of State with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and his delegation have not been classified, and a verbatim account was not recorded," the President's Press Secretariat said on Thursday.

A video on the website of the Russian Orthodox Church showed a visibly angry Patriarch Kirill lecturing Bulgarian President Rumen Radev about what he saw as the right interpretation of history. The video did not show Radev's reaction.

"In his statement, Patriarch Kirill expressed his pain and disappointment at the belittlement of Russia's role in the Russo-Turkish War and what he saw as paying respect to other States," Georgiev wrote.

"In a tactful and dignified manner, President Radev assured the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church that the Bulgarian people has never ceased paying respect and expressing a deserved gratitude to the Russian people, to the Russian Church and to the soldiers of Emperor Alexander II's liberator army, and the President had set forth all this in his speeches at the observances of March 3," Georgiev points out, referring to the celebration of the 140th anniversary of Bulgaria's liberation from Ottoman rule as a result of the Russo-Turkish War.

"At the same time, President Radev expressly emphasized that, just as the church fights for the soul of every man, we are also grateful to the memory of every warrior who fought in the Russian army under Emperor Alexander II's flags and died for Bulgarian freedom regardless of their nationality."

"Patriarch Kirill himself suggested that this subject be dropped, after the President reminded him that the Patriarch himself had argued for the power of silence."

"Throughout the session, the President behaved in a statesmanlike manner, treating his interlocutor with respect but firmly standing up for his positions, which made a strong impression on the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church," Protoiereus Nikolai Georgiev says in his press release.

"At the end of the talks, Patriarch Kirill gave his blessing to the Bulgarian President, but Radev said that he had already received a blessing when he took office from the wise Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte."