site.btaFlag-Raising Ceremony on Europe Day Held in Front of Presidential Building

A ceremony raising the flag of the European Union on Europe Day took place on Thursday in front of the presidential building in Sofia.

It was attended by head of State Rumen Radev, Vice President Iliana Iotova, caretaker Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dimitar Glavchev, Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev, ministers, and representatives of the parliamentary political formations.

The EU flag was hoisted to the accompaniment of the "Ode to Joy" and then the Bulgarian anthem was played.

Europe Day has been celebrated since 1986, in accordance with a decision of the European Council Summit in Milan, Italy (28-29 June 1985). It marks the anniversary of the speech (1950) by former French foreign minister Robert Schuman in Paris, France, in which he set out his plan for the unification of the coal and steel industries of Western European countries (the so-called "Schuman Declaration") as "first concrete foundation of a European federation".