site.btaPM Says Bulgaria's Future Depends on Whether or Not Bulgarians Choose to Follow Awakeners' Example

Opening the government's weekly meeting with remarks on the occasion of the National Awakeners Day, November 1, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said that Bulgaria's future depends on whether or not Bulgarians choose to follow the example of their awakeners: the educators, scientists, writers, etc. "In 1895, Aleko Konstantinov, a Bulgarian awakener and visionary, wrote Bay Ganyo Makes Elections, which is, unfortunately, still topical. The future of Bulgaria depends on the choice we make and on whether we will follow the example of our awakeners or the example of Bay Ganyo and Andreshko. I very much hope we will make the right choice,” said the Prime Minister.

Bay Ganyo is a notorious parvenu and demagogue and Andreshko is an artful peasant in a short story by another Bulgarian classic, Elin Pelin.

The Prime Minister congratulated Bulgarians on the National Awakeners Day. “This is a holiday that unites us through the names of Ivan of Rila, Cyril and Methodius, Patriarch Euthymius, our heroes of the Renaissance and the Liberation,” Denkov stressed.

He pointed out that this is a day that unites all Bulgarians. “What we Bulgarians are is largely due to their [the awakeners] deeds,” the Prime Minister noted.  "We should also thank an Education Minister who 101 years ago saw the importance of the role of these symbols, examples that we should carry in our souls - Education Minister Stoyan Omarchevski, who proposed to the National Assembly that this should become an official national holiday of Bulgaria," Denkov said.