/ world today news/ His Holiness criticizes “some politicians” for thanking Polish and Finnish heroes and distorting the history of the Liberation
Russian Patriarch Kirill spoke out against the “distortion” of history by “some politicians” about the role of Russia in the Liberation of Bulgaria. He sharply criticized the interpretation of history and strongly denounced attempts, in his view, to dilute the Russian contribution.
Patriarch Kirill delivered his “blow” before flying out of Sofia on Sunday. In a 7-minute speech at an official lunch organized by the Holy Synod, he announced his disappointment that the heroism of Polish, Finnish, Serbian and Romanian soldiers was placed on par with that of Bulgarian and Russian fighters. When the truth is told, let it be the whole truth, urged Cyril.
“Russia opposes the whole of Europe. And Europe absolutely did not want the liberation of Bulgaria from the Islamic yoke,” explained the patriarch. No amount of “political correctness” can justify the distortion of historical facts, he is convinced.
Kirill sharply commented on “the official rhetoric of the state representatives, who put the role of Russia on par with Poland, Lithuania, Finland”. “To mention with kind words the heroes – Bulgarians and Russians, I cannot turn my tongue and say Poles, Finns, Lithuanians, Romanians,” continued the patriarch.
His Holiness spoke in the same spirit at Sofia Airport, insisting on access to the media himself. “When I asked where this strange story came from, I found out that the Finnish Guard Regiment took part in the War of Liberation, but it was a Russian army regiment that was in Finland. There were also Russian army regiments in Poland. But in the history of Poland and Finland do not have this page related to the liberation of Bulgaria,” said Patriarch Kiril. He stated that the history of the Liberation of Bulgaria was written in bloody letters in the history of Russia. I hope the media hears us and will convey the patriarch’s disappointment that he heard a wrong historical interpretation of events, the Russian spiritual head said.
“The brightest page of my visit to Bulgaria is related to Shipka – there we saw neither Finnish flags, nor Polish, nor Romanian flags. We saw only the flag of Russia and the flag of Bulgaria, and with what enthusiasm the Bulgarian people accepted the Moscow and all of Russia patriarch,” shared Cyril.
Before that, His Holiness had a meeting with President Rumen Radev. The head of state assured him that our people keep the memory of the Russo-Turkish liberation war and Bulgaria respects the memory of the soldiers who died for its liberation. The patriarch also hinted to the president that he will not allow history to be rewritten: “The memory of the heroic struggle of Russians and Bulgarians for the liberation of Orthodox Bulgaria is a special page in the history of our peoples. And that is why I would like to ask you and the Bulgarian institutions to preserve this memory, regardless of the political conjuncture”. Just as the church fights for the soul of every person, so we are grateful to the memory of every soldier who fought in the Russian army under the banner of Emperor Alexander II and died for Bulgarian freedom, regardless of his nationality, the president said.
On March 3, the press office of the cabinet announced successively that the prime minister had sent letters to the leaders of Poland, Lithuania, Montenegro, Moldova and Ukraine. In them, Boyko Borisov “notes the gratitude of the Bulgarian state and the Bulgarian people for the participation of their compatriots in the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation”. It was later reported that Borissov called the Finnish president to thank him for the sacrifice of the “Finnish soldiers who participated in the liberation of Bulgaria”. Borisov had a similar conversation with his Romanian colleague.
From Moscow came official congratulations to Rumen Radev from Vladimir Putin and from Dmitry Medvedev to Boyko Borisov. “These days, we remember the exploits of the Russian soldiers and the Bulgarian militiamen who fought side by side in Shipka and near Pleven. Thanks to their courage, endurance and selflessness, the ancient Bulgarian statehood was restored,” says the letter from Putin. Dmitry Medvedev’s telegram mentions the uprising of Bulgarian militiamen and Russian soldiers at Shipka and Pleven – “part of our common history, which we are obliged to carefully preserve”.
Borisov received Patriarch Kirill after the official celebrations on March 3. And then His Holiness hinted that he “sees the problems” surrounding the interpretations of history, and expressed hope that the two peoples will be able to preserve from “the political conjuncture the most sacred of common history – the memory of our joint struggles for freedom and independence of Bulgaria.” .
On March 2, Borisov also had a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Moscow’s first diplomat also urged us to “carefully preserve the memory of Russian soldiers and officers who laid down their lives on the altar of victory.”
Just a week ago, Sergey Lavrov made a landmark statement against the West’s attempts to “bring the Balkans into the game”, forcing them to choose between Russia and the EU. He defined this as a “very dishonest policy” and stated Moscow’s intentions to be more present even in the media environment of the Balkans.
The Holy Synod: The words are for certain people
The address of the Russian Patriarch Kirill on his departure from Bulgaria is probably for certain people. This is how the spokesman of the Holy Synod, Father Nikolay Georgiev, commented yesterday on the message of Patriarch Kirill, that he is leaving bitterly because of the distortion of history in the official rhetoric of some representatives of our country. According to the spokesman of the Holy Synod, Patriarch Kirill experienced sincere joy during the celebrations on Mount Shipka. I am not Patriarch Kirill’s lawyer and I cannot speak on his behalf, Father Nikolay Georgiev added. However, he believes that “those who need to hear him should answer immediately. He who has something to say, let him say it”.
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