site.btaChair of Parliamentary Committee on Civil Society Kirova Visits Bulgarian Village in Odesa Region

While on a visit to the Ukrainian village of Delzhyler, Odesa Region, on March 2, Rositsa Kirova, Chairperson of Bulgaria's parliamentary Committee on Direct Participation of Citizens, Citizens' Complaints and Interaction with Civil Society, said: "I saw that the Bulgarian spirit is alive, I saw the true meaning of the word patriot, I saw an immense love for Bulgaria among the Bulgarians in Ukraine."

On the occasion of Bulgaria's National Day, March 3, the Bulgarian Consulate General in Odesa in cooperation with the BTA National Press Club in the city organized a meeting with the Bulgarian community from Odesa, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions and a cultural programme on March 1.

Kirova, who was an official guest at the invitation of Bulgarian Consul General Svetoslav Ivanov, met with the mayors of some 20 Bulgarian villages in Bolhrad, Izmail and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi districts, NGO representatives and principals of Bulgarian Sunday schools in Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.

In Delzhyler, Kirova met with Mayor Ivan Gaydarzhi, Trifon Antov, deputy at the Odesa Regional Council and Chairman of the Odesa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Viktoria Stoyanova, principal of the Prosveta Bulgarian Sunday School, Svetlana Todorova, principal of Delzhyler's lyceum, and village residents.

Kirova visited the Bulgarian Sunday School where 300 students are enrolled. The students staged a concert on the occasion of March 3. Kirova delivered books, provided by the Bulgarian Education and Science Ministry, which funds the school.

She also visited the state-owned school in the village, which has 470 Bulgarian students.

The official visited the local church, built by the first Bulgarian emigrants in the 19th century.

"It is amazing to find such immense love for Bulgaria many kilometres away from the country. These people are Bulgarians, they carry Bulgaria in their hearts. They teach their children to love Bulgaria, to know the Bulgarian spirit, to be proud of Bulgarian history, and maybe we should ask them forgiveness for not doing enough, as the efforts are never enough. We must make efforts here, in Ukraine, their homeland, to preserve the Bulgarian language and what their ancestors have passed down to them," said Kirova.

"It is very touching to see children attending Bulgarian Sunday schools after regular school classes in order to learn the Bulgarian language, dances, crafts, and to keep the traditions alive in the 21st century," she said. "I am confident that this spirit will not fade."

Asked what she would do to support the Bulgarian community in Ukraine, Kirova said: "Last year I promised to assist with the status of the Bolhrad high school, we have started this process, and it is almost completed. The two countries' education ministries have signed a cooperation agreement, which is very important."

"Now I make a promise to myself not to forget about the meetings with these people, to help ensure that Bulgarian is taught as a mother tongue, just like Hungarian, Romanian and Polish are taught," she said.

More than 60,000 Bulgarians live in Odesa, and the total number of Bulgarians in Odesa Region is 150,000. You can hear people speaking Bulgarian everywhere, they greet you in Bulgarian, and you feel as if you are in Bulgaria, the MP added.

"I see people who preserve the Bulgarian spirit, language, traditions and way of life. People who dream of visiting Bulgaria. Their children ask them when they will go to Bulgaria. And this is probably the most precious thing, especially on the eve of the National Day. I would like to thank the Consul General of Bulgaria in Odesa, Svetoslav Ivanov, for the hospitality, the Bulgarian News Agency for covering the life of Bulgarians here, and most of all, I thank these wonderful teachers and people," Kirova said.

The village of Delzhyler was founded by Bulgarian settlers in the 1830s. Nowadays the village is part of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district in Odesa Region. It has more than 4,000 inhabitants, 95% of whom are Bulgarians.