Our common house Europe is not just sand, stone, concrete and glass, it is also spirit and namely the latter is the most solid foundation of our house. This is what President Rumen Radev said at the beginning of the solemn concert which marked the official opening of the Bulgarian EU Council Presidency in Brussels. The performance took place in the Center for Fine Arts BOZAR.
In the statement he made, the Head of State recalled how the unique BOZAR building was created and said that its history is a “lesson on Europe.” After World War I the architectural sight was built with the help of sponsors – art connoisseurs, after the government refused to provide funds for the project launched by the Belgian architect Victor Orta. “Maybe at that time, more than ever before, the Europeans were aware that art is a cure for the wounds from the war. Today, when there is a growing number of business buildings in Brussels, the space BOZAR is located in is becoming an oasis. Because it is namely BOZAR that reminds us that Europe should not only be a regional union, but also a spiritual one,” President Rumen Radev said. The Head of State highlighted that united Europe is a guarantee of peace and progress and that the cultural heritage makes the continent unique.
“Europe should be comprehensible if it wants people to trust and support it,” President Radev said and gave as an example another moment from BOZAR’s history when a decision was made that the name of the building will be written with five letters instead of its initial name in French with nine letters and a sign. At the beginning of the concert Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Paul Dujardin, director general of BOZAR, delivered welcoming addresses.
The concert was also attended by Vice-president Iliana Iotova, the Minister for the Bulgarian EU Council Presidency Lilyana Pavlova and Culture Minister Boil Banov, by representatives of the diplomatic corps and leading institutions in Brussels, by Bulgarian and foreign culture activists. The concert’s program includes emblematic pieces of the Bulgarian classical and folklore music and also of the European music presented by the Sofia philharmonic orchestra with conductor Nayden Todorov, the “Vanya Moneva” choir with conductor Vanya Moneva. Special guests were the soprano Sonya Yoncheva and the pianist Lyudmil Angelov.