site.btaPresident Radev Begins Visit to Rome with Laying of Wreath at Monument to Bulgarian Revolutionary

Rome/Sofia/Skopje, May 26 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev began
his visit to Rome on Wednesday with a wreath-laying ceremony at
the monument to Bulgarian revolutionary Captain Petko Voyvoda.
Caretaker Culture Minister Velislav Minekov and Bulgarian public
 figures also paid their respect.

On the first day of the visit, President Radev and his
counterpart of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo
Pendarovski, attended the signing of an information exchange and
 professional cooperation agreement between the Bulgarian News
Agency (BTA) and the Media Information Agency (MIA) of North
Macedonia.

In Rome, Radev officially unveiled the Bulgaria Gallery with the
 Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Italy's capital.

Before his arrival in Rome, the Bulgarian head of State paid a
short visit to Skopje, from where he departed together with his
counterpart Pendarovski. The two held a brief meeting before
Pendarovski's delegation joined the Bulgarian delegation led by
Radev on a visit to the Holy See and Italy. This is the first
time the two delegations have travelled  together to Rome to
honour the lifework of Sts Cyril and  Methodius, Radev's Press
Secretariat said on Wednesday.

Radev said the joint trip was an opportunity for Bulgaria and 
the Republic of North Macedonia to state a shared will for 
developing their relations on the basis of cooperation, 
friendship and goodneighbourliness. The Bulgarian President 
thanked Skopje for the welcome during his brief visit.

President Pendarovski said in a joint media statement with Radev
 that trust should be restored and the two countries should talk
 as friends about the most cumbersome issues standing in their 
way. He also expressed the hope that this would bring them
closer  together soon. Pendarovski said that operational-level
talks  between the two countries have been, and will be,
conducted by their governments. "We are here to calm down the
atmosphere and  talk in a different language about the problem
standing between  us in the past year," said the President of
the Republic of  North Macedonia.
 
On Thursday, Radev and the delegation led by him will have an
audience with Pope Francis. In the Vatican, the Bulgarian head
of State will also meet with the Secretary of State, Cardinal
Pietro Parolin. Radev will also visit the Vatican Apostolic
Library, where he will see fragments of a recently discovered
treatise by archbishop Peter Bogdan Bakshic.
  
Later on Thursday, the Bulgarian President will attend a solemn
liturgy in Rome's Basilica of San Clemente.

RY, NV/DD, DS