Thousands Gather at Mt Shipka for Bulgaria's National Day

Dimitrina Solakova, BTA correspondent Radoslav Parvanov, BTA correspondent Ralitsa Stefanova

Celebration of Bulgaria's National Day at Mt Shipka, Central Bulgaria, March 3, 2025 (BTA Photo/Radoslav Parvanov)

Mt Shipka, Central Bulgaria,

03.03.2025 15:18

(BTA)

Despite the freezing temperatures and thick fog on Monday, thousands of Bulgarians climbed the steps to the Monument to Freedom on Mt Shipka to participate in the national celebration of the 147th anniversary of Bulgaria's Liberation.

The celebration, organized by Gabrovo Municipality, was attended by National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova, Deputy Minister of Defence Radostin Iliev, MEPs, MPs, Mayor of Gabrovo Tanya Hristova, Gabrovo Regional Governor Maria Basheva-Venkova, representatives of the local administration and the Municipal Council of Gabrovo, local and state institutions.

The official ceremony began with the Parliament Chair reviewing the guard of honour on Mt Shipka. Addressing those in attendance, she said: "We live in dynamic and difficult times, times of transformation and challenges not seen before. But the imperative to protect the homeland and to make efforts to develop it as a democratic, legal and social state remains." "In order for our Bulgaria to take a worthy place in the modern world, we must remember the past and the achievements of our ancestors and consistently defend our national interests," she added. "March 3 is a day of tribute to the Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Finnish, Polish, Serbian and other nationalities who died in the Russo-Turkish War," the Parliament Chair also said.

She added that the Russo-Turkish War was the result of the Bulgarian national liberation movement, which culminated in the brutal suppression of the April Uprising. "In the rebellious April of 1876, thousands of Bulgarians rejected slavery and, following the motto inscribed on the banner of the revolution 'Freedom or Death', became martyrs but also heroes. From the ashes of our ruined settlements, from the land soaked with the blood of innocent Bulgarians, from the bones of the rebels, from the tears of the survivors, freedom was born. The self-sacrifice of the people of April led to the war of liberation, in which the Bulgarians participated by joining the volunteer detachments. Many provided command and intelligence on the numbers and location of the Turkish troops. And today, from the height of this peak [Mt Shipka], a holy place for us, we have reason to celebrate with pride the feat of the Bulgarian volunteers who proved in battle that the Bulgarians deserve their freedom," Kiselova said in her address.

All the attendees honoured the memory of the fallen heroes with a minute of silence, after which wreaths and flowers were laid at the Monument to Freedom.

/DS/