President Rumen Radev attended a commemorative ceremony in Poland marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp at the end of World War II, the President’s press secretariat said here on Monday.
Dozens of state and government leaders listened to the testimonies of concentration camp and Holocaust survivors and paid tribute to the victims of the Nazi regime in Europe.
The liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp by the Soviet army on January 27, 1945, is also recognized as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
During the commemorative ceremony, representatives from various faiths, including Bishop Meletiy of Znepole, led a joint prayer. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church was instrumental in saving the Jewish community in Bulgaria during World War II, maintaining a steadfast commitment to humanity. Bulgaria continues to uphold the principles of tolerance and stands against xenophobia, hatred, and contemporary forms of anti-Semitism, the statement said.
Leaders and royals from across Europe attended the ceremony, including Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark, Estonia's President Alar Karis, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain, Italy's President Sergio Mattarella, Latvia's President Edgars Rinkevics, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Prince Haakon of Norway, Poland's President Andrzej Duda, Slovakia's President Peter Pellegrini, Slovenia's President Natasa Pirc Musar, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Hungary's President Tamas Szucs, Finland's President Alexander Stubb, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Czechia's President Petr Pavel, Montenegro's President Jakov Milatovic, Switzerland's President Karin Keller-Sutter, Princess Victoria of Sweden, Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, and other international representatives, the statement concluded.
The International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust has been marked since 2006 by a UN General Assembly resolution of November 1, 2005.
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