CULTURE - BULGARIA - DAY OF SLAV LETTERS

Bulgaria Celebrates
Day of Culture, Education,
Slav Letters


Sofia, May 24 (BTA) - Bulgaria celebrates the Day of Bulgarian Letters, Education and Culture on May 24. The day is traditionally marked by paying floral tributes to monuments of Ss. Cyril and Methodius and festivities at schools, community centres and libraries.  

President Rumen Radev and Vice President Iliana Iotova laid wreathes at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius monument in front of the National Library in central Sofia. They were accompanied by caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev and the Ministers of Education and Science, Prof. Nikolai Denkov, and of Culture, Prof. Velislav Minekov.

In remarks to reporters after the ceremony, President Radev said that Bulgaria celebrates on May 24 "the highest spiritual achievement of the Bulgarian people - the creation of our own writing". "Cyril and Methodius, their students and disciples turned Bulgaria into the spiritual and cultural centre of the Slavonic world in the Middle Ages. So, today, let us pay tribute to all scholars and writers who created the Bulgarian state of the spirit during the ages," Radev said.

The President congratulated all upstanding Bulgarian teachers, scholars, and the people of knowledge who continue to strengthen the Bulgarian spirit and "drive back the darkness of problems". Radev said that Bulgaria has a reason to be optimistic and that this country has always progressed with education, knowledge and spirituality.