Head of State Rumen Radev participated today in the commemorative ceremony in Poland on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp at the end of World War II. Dozens of Heads of State and Government listened to stories from concentration camp and Holocaust survivors and paid tribute to the victims of the Nazi regime in Europe.

 

The date of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp by the USSR army on 27 January 1945 has also been designated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

 

During the commemorative ceremony, a joint prayer service of representatives of various faiths took place, in which Bishop Meletios of Znepol participated. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church played a significant role as an institution in saving the Jewish community in Bulgaria during the years of the Second World War, taking a firm and unwavering stand in support of humanity. Bulgaria today is determined to continue to stand firm for the principles of tolerance and to oppose xenophobia, hatred and contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism.

 

The commemorative ceremony was also attended by the President of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen, King Philip and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, King Frederick X of Denmark and Queen Mary, President Alar Karis of Estonia, King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia, President Sergio Mattarella of Italy, President Edgars Rinkevics of Latvia, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Queen Maxima; Crown Prince Hakon of Norway, President Andrzej Duda of Poland, President Peter Pellegrini of Slovakia, President Natasha Pirc Musar of Slovenia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, President Tamas Szujok of Hungary, President Alexander Stubb of Finland, President Emmanuel Macron of France, President Petr Pavel of the Czech Republic, President Jakov Milatovic of Montenegro, President Karin Keller-Sutter of Switzerland, Princess Victoria of Sweden, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic of Croatia and representatives of many other countries.