site.btaRussian Patriarch Kirill Confers with President Radev, Prime Minister Borissov

Sofia, Match 4 (BTA) - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia conferred with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and National Assembly Chair Tsveta Karayancheva during his visit here March 2-4.

During their meeting on Sunday President Radev said: "The peoples of Bulgaria and Russia share deep spiritual and cultural bonds and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church have contributed greatly." Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte was also present at the meeting.

Patriarch Kirill commended highly the role of the Bulgarian head of state against the misinterpretation of the historical truth in Bulgaria about the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Kirill said: "The memory about the heroic struggles of Russians and Bulgarians to liberate orthodox Bulgaria is a special page in the history of the two peoples which is why I would like to ask you and the Bulgarian institutions to preserve that memory regardless of the political situation."

Meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on Saturday, Patriarch Kirill said that the war of liberation fought by the Bulgarian people with the help of Russia is a result of the spiritual unity of the two peoples.

Prime Minister Borissov said that during his tenure as prime minister over 140 million leva had been invested in Bulgarian churches and monasteries. Borissov voiced hope that friendship and the Orthodox faith will lead to good deeds. He noted that the Western Balkans top the agenda of the Bulgarian EU Presidency and that this policy is not against Turkey and Russia but its aim is to ensure that nations to live in peace, freedom and prosperity.

On Saturday National Assembly Chair Tsveta Karayancheva conferred with Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

On Sunday morning Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte and Russian Patriarch Kirill officiated together at a holy liturgy at the St Alexander Nevsky Memorial Cathedral in Sofia along with Bulgarian metropolitans and members of the Russian church delegation.