The Republic of Bulgaria and the Slovak Republic are connected by a true friendship and the excellent relations between them are built on deep historical and cultural ties between the two peoples, President Rosen Plevneliev highlighted at a joint news conference with his Slovak counterpart President Andrej Kiska. An example is the mission of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius in Great Moravia, the 1150th anniversary of which was jointly marked two years ago.
At the face-to-face meeting between the two presidents the highest state orders were exchanged, which are an expression of the high level of development of the bilateral relations. The Bulgarian Head of State received the “Order of the White Double Cross” – first class and President Andrej Kiska – the Stara Planina Order with ribbon. The Slovak “Order of the White Double Cross” – first class is awarded to citizens of other countries for their contribution to the development of the relations with the Slovak Republic and for strengthening the position of the country in international relations. President Petar Stoyanov was awarded the highest order in 1997.
President Rosen Plevneliev voiced his gratitude for the good attitude shown to the Bulgarian community in Slovakia, which is well-integrated and enjoys all conditions for preserving its cultural identity. “We are grateful for the support for the Bulgarian “Christo Botev” school in Bratislava, which has a 67-year-old history and we will continue the good tradition of exchanging lecturers in Bulgarian language and literature at the universities of Bratislava and Presov, and Slovak language and literature at Sofia University and the University of Veliko Turnovo,” the Head of State further said.