site.btaThe Freedom of Ukraine Conference Held in Sofia

A national scientific conference titled "The Freedom of Ukraine" opened on April 14 at the Central Military Club in Sofia. The event was organized by the New Bulgarian University's Department of New Bulgarian Studies with the support of the Association of Reserve Officers "Atlantic".

The conference began with a minute of silence in memory of the victims in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, following Russian strikes on April 13. 

Russia launched a merciless and cold-blooded strike on Sumy, fully aware there was no military targets and that the victims would be civilians, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Bulgaria Olesya Ilashchuk said at the opening. According to Ilashchuk, the attack killed 34 people and injured over 120. She emphasized that the strike hit the city centre on Palm Sunday.

Bulgaria condemned the strike. "We are horrified by the Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, which killed and injured civilians, including children gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday," the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on social media platform X. 

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov wrote in a post on X: "My heart goes out to the victims, their families, and all those affected by this brutal act of aggression. We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine."  

The conference brought together prominent scholars, professors, experts, and university students to examine key issues related to the historical, cultural, and geopolitical development of Ukraine in the context of contemporary challenges.

"Every day the countries of the coalition of the willing make public the specific things by which they can and do help Ukraine, and it is high time that our government do this, too. Being nominally there is not enough," Bulgarian President (2012-2017) Rosen Plevneliev said at the opening.

"We cannot be silent when the President of the Republic describes those who breached the rules of international legal order which guarantee peace as peacemakers and peacelovers," Plevneliev pointed out.

He added that one of the greatest concerns is the way in which "President Trump is negotiating today with the dictator in Moscow". There is no major difference between this and the 1938 Munich Agreement, which brought disgrace to those who legitimated the ambition of Hitler who then obtained unlimited power, he said.

Ukraine’s victory in the war against Russian aggression is a key element of Europe’s security, because without that, Europe will be exposed to a much greater threat from Russian hybrid and other forms of aggression, former Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov (1997–2001) said at the opening of the conference.

Kostov raised the question of whether the EU can guarantee its own security independently, without relying, or at least not to the same extent, on US military forces on the territory of Europe.