site.btaForeign Ministry: Chicago City Council Adopts Resolution on Occasion of 120 Years of Bulgaria-US Diplomatic Relations

During its session on November 7, City Council of Chicago unanimously adopted a resolution on the occasion of 120 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and the USA, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry reported on Wednesday.

The document notes that Bulgaria was admitted into and permitted to display an exhibit at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, an event hailed by the Chicago Tribune as the first diplomatic recognition accorded to Bulgaria as an independent state. The author Aleko Konstantinov and his travelogue "To Chicago and Back" is recognized as an inspiration to generations of Bulgarian emigrants in Chicago.

The resolution honors the legacy of Bulgarian politicians, administrators, officers, clergymen, intellectuals, and ordinary citizens who in the spring of 1943 resisted Nazi pressure to deport Bulgarian Jews to Nazi concentration camps and, in doing so, rescued approximately 50,000 Bulgarian Jews from the worst terrors of the Nazi regime. The saving of Bulgarian Jews during WWII is a valuable lesson about the essential role of civic mobilization in support of freedom, democracy, rule of law, and human rights. It is a powerful, positive example that inspires countries around the world to fight modern manifestations of antisemitism, said the Foreign Ministry in Sofia.

City Council of Chicago acknowledges that since the beginning of the unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Bulgaria has been consistent in its support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and has provided military, technical, and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. The Bulgarian Government continues to champion Ukraine on its assertion to join the European Union and NATO, and the Bulgarian Government is willing to participate in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

The resolution was initiated by the Consul General in Chicago, Svetoslav Stankov, introduced by Alderman Gilbert Villegas, a Latino community leader, and co-sponsored by Alderman Debra Silverstein, a representative of the Jewish community in the Chicago City Council.