site.btaBulgarian Delegation Joins Wreath-Laying at St Methodius Plaque in Ellwangen

A Bulgarian delegation joined a wreath-laying ceremony at the plaque of St Methodius on Methodius Square in the town of Ellwangen, Germany on Saturday. The event was part of the town's annual celebrations of the Feast Day of St Methodius.

From the Bulgarian side, wreaths were laid by the country's Consulate General in Munich and by the Municipality of Troyan.

Attending the ceremony were diplomatic representatives from the consulates general of Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Slovakia, Ellwangen Mayor Michael Dambacher, and Mark Hacker, Honorary Consul of Bulgaria in Stuttgart.

The Bulgarian delegation, led by the Consul General in Munich, Stefan Ionkov, included Milena Dimitrova, Secretary to the President of Bulgaria for culture, education and relations with Bulgarians abroad; Kiril Valchev, Director General of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA); Troyan deputy mayors Angel Angelov and Veronika Todorova; staff of the Consulate General of Bulgaria in Munich; members of the Bulgarian community in Germany, and journalists.

Also present at the event were the Bulgarian Orthodox Church's Metropolitan Anthony of Western and Central Europe; Archpriest Rayko Sinev of the Bulgarian parish of Sts Cyril and Methodius in Stuttgart; Archpriest Nedyalko Kalinov of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church community St Clement of Ohrid in Munich; Archpriest Tihon, head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church community St Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra in Regensburg; and Archpriest Vasil Bechevski, who provides spiritual care to the Bulgarian parishes in Mannheim and Mainz.

At the end of the ceremony, the popular song "Varvi, narode vazrodeni" ("March On, People Revived") was sung in Bulgarian. It is an anthem of the Bulgarians' enlightenment commemorating the creation of the Slav alphabet by St Cyril and St Methodius in the 9th century.