President: The Ideals and Principles of the Olympic Movement Should Unite Us for a More Peaceful and Just World
2024-07-26 16:03:00
Our athletes are a symbol of the fighting Bulgarian spirit and of our country's success as a strong nation, Rumen Radev said at an event at our embassy in Paris on the occasion of the start of the Olympics
The Olympic Games have always been a symbol of peace, understanding and good neighbourliness. I believe that the ideals and principles on which the Olympic movement is built will continue to unite us and inspire us for a more peaceful and fairer world. This is what President Rumen Radev said on the occasion of the upcoming official opening of the 32nd Summer Olympic Games in Paris. At the Embassy of Bulgaria in the French capital today, the Head of State and his wife participated in an event organised on the eve of the Olympics to mark the participation of our athletes in the games. Our diplomatic mission hosted sports personalities, Bulgarian law enforcement officers who will help their French counterparts to ensure the security of the large-scale sports event, as well as Bulgarian volunteers involved in its organisation.
Unfortunately, Paris is welcoming the Olympic Games in a global situation of acute conflicts, crises and confrontation. The essence of the Olympic movement is to bring peace, good neighbourliness and to unite people, and these principles and ideals should continue to unite and inspire us not only for even greater sporting successes, but also for peace, Rumen Radev said during the event at the Bulgarian Embassy.
The Bulgarian athletes are a symbol of the fighting Bulgarian spirit and of the success of our country as a strong nation, Rumen Radev further said and highlighted the long-standing training of our athletes, their hard work, hardships, responsibility and love of sport and the Motherland. The Head of State expressed confidence that our athletes, who are representing Bulgaria in the Olympics, will give their best in the competitions so that we can raise the Bulgarian flag with dignity again in Paris. The competition in the field of sport is becoming fiercer, a lot of financial resources are being invested, which our country cannot allocate yet, but our athletes are compensating for the deficits in a number of areas thanks to their incredible qualities and, above all, strong motivation and dedication, Rumen Radev said, noting the efforts of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to create conditions for the preparation of our athletes.
The Head of State pointed out that the goals set out in the Paris Agreement on Sport and Sustainable Development, which Bulgaria joined yesterday at the Sport for Sustainable Development Summit, are aimed at making young people more active in sport. During the high-level forum, which was attended by the Bulgarian President, HoSG from around the world, heads of international organisations, including the UN, UNESCO, WHO, endorsed the agreement. The commitments set out in the agreement focus on the future of young people, their equality and access to sport, the fight against immobility, their physical but also spiritual development. The Head of State added that these are also the goals of the presidential initiative "Do Sport with the President", initiated by the institution years ago.
The event, organised today by our Ambassador to France Radka Balabanova, was also attended by the Minister of Youth and Sports Georgi Glushkov, the President of the BOC Stefka Kostadinova. On the initiative of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, an exhibition of paintings by Vladimir Nikolov dedicated to the Olympic Games was also presented.
