“Shipka is the capital of national dignity in history bequeathed to us, the descendants, by a few thousand valiant men, and we should never waste this capital.” This is what President Rumen Radev said in the speech he delivered at the ceremony held at the Shipka peak marking Bulgaria’s National Day – 3 March. The national celebrations of the 140th anniversary of Bulgaria’s liberation are held under the auspices of the Bulgarian Head of State.
In the statement he made, Rumen Radev said that there are many bones buried under the snow, in the earth of St. Nicola, Okolchitsa, Eagle’s Nest and the surrounding redoubts. Some 140 years later you can hardly tell which the bones of the Bulgarians are and which the Russian ones are. However, Bulgaria's freedom was built on the fundament of these bones. On the fundament of the Russian and Bulgarian military glory. “Today, we have gathered at the famous, wild peak to bow our heads to the heroes of Bulgarian liberty and to pay tribute to our common past,” the President emphasized.
“Throughout the years, in the heat of August and amid the snowstorms of March, you have attended this monument, even when the politicians did not. Because you knew that with your presence, with the tribute you pay, you construct the historical truth,” the President addressed the hundreds of people that came to the memorable peak. “You, young or old compatriots, have been the army of volunteers fighting to defend the historical truth, which you never allowed to be desecrated or rejected. It is to you that I am extending my human gratitude,” Rumen Radev further said.
The President thanked His Holiness Neophyte and His Holiness Cyril, Patriarch of Moscow, and the whole of Russia, for the joint religious service which Bulgaria’s and Russia’s heads of the Orthodox churches held at the Shipka Monastery “Birth of Christ” in the town of Shipka. “I thank you for the words of wisdom, and for the appreciation and gratitude and the spirit of Christianity, which never forgets but forgives. It rationalizes freedom and lifts up man. This is the spirit of Christianity where self-sacrifice is the road to freedom because the Shipka hecatomb opened the doors to our country's liberation,” the Bulgarian Head of State further said at the ceremony held at the Shipka peak.
President Rumen Radev was welcomed with an official ceremony at the historical peak, at which he received the report of the commander of the guard of honor. The Head of State attended a memorial service in memory of the dead Bulgarian and Russian soldiers.