For us Bulgarians, Italy has always personified the free human spirit and the creativity of the Renaissance and with their talent and work, many Bulgarian cultural figures contributed to the creation and maintenance of an extremely strong bridge between our peoples. This was stated by President Rumen Radev at a reception at the Embassy of Bulgaria in Rome, which was attended by many of our compatriots, as well as a number of representatives and heads of Italian state and cultural institutions and the diplomatic corps.
The event is being held on the occasion of the Day of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, of the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture and of Slavic literature - May 24, and the head of state paid tribute to the monument of the Slavic first teachers. President Rumen Radev is visiting the Vatican and the Italian Republic, and the delegation led by him includes representatives of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church in Bulgaria, public figures, cultural and musical artists.
In his speech, the head of state emphasised the intense relations of cooperation and friendship between Italy and Bulgaria in the economy, politics, education and science, and especially in the field of culture, "because culture is the solid foundation of our centuries-old cooperation". Rumen Radev also congratulated the Bulgarian teachers in Italy, who continue the holy mission of educating the children of the Bulgarian community in a spirit of love for Bulgaria.
Rumen Radev also highlighted the importance of the reproduction of Petar Bogdan's historical work "On the Antiquity of the Fatherland and Bulgarian Affairs" donated to our country, which was presented yesterday at the presidential institution, for strengthening cultural ties between Bulgaria and Italy.
Bulgaria's great contribution to European civilization is that our country created and spread among all other Slavic peoples a new literature and culture, the president emphasised. The head of state noted the special symbolism and emotional charge of the celebration of 24 May in Rome, since in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in the Eternal City in the 9th century, Pope Adrian II received the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, proclaimed them equal apostles and sanctified their work and their priceless books. Centuries later, in 1980, Pope John Paul II proclaimed them co-patrons of Europe, because of the cultural paths they blazed.
Within the framework of the event, President Rumen Radev awarded the Order of "St. St. Cyril and Methodius", First Class, for their great merits in the field of culture and education the honorary consuls of the Republic of Bulgaria for the regions of Emilia- Romagna, Apulia and Liguria in the Italian Republic - Franco Castellini, Anna Maria Patrizia Gadaleta and Michele Scandrolo.