On March 22, H. E. Mr. Alexios Marios Liberopoulos, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hellenic Republic to the Republic of Bulgaria,

and his wife gave a reception in hotel Sofia Balkan Palace on the occasion of the country's national holiday.

Independence Day, March 25, is the date on which Greeks mark the anniversary of the 1821 uprising that led to their liberation from Turkish rule and the establishment of an independent Greek state in 1830.

In his welcoming speech, H. E. Mr. Alexios Marios Liberopoulos emphasized the significance of the date:

Minister for the Economy & Industry, Ministers, dear colleagues, dear guests, dear friends,

Thank you for joining us in celebrating our 202 years since the beginning of the fight of Greeks for their liberation from the Ottoman Empire. 

Allow me to also thank our sponsors who made this event possible. The Hellenic Business Council in Bulgaria along with the members of the Council EKO, Postbank and the Coca-Cola Hellenic – Bulgaria, and of course  Mr. Daskalantonakis, the owner of The Sofia Balkan Palace.

Unfortunately, we are celebrating under the shadow of the recent tragic train accident in Greece, we are still mourning the 57 tragic deaths, of young people mostly, one of them being of Bulgarian origin.

It was the 25^th of March in 1821 when a handful of Greeks started the liberation struggle against the Ottoman rule. It was a fight against all odds, and they made it. United in arms and united in faith.

Today, united within Greece and in unison with our good neighbors, the people of Bulgaria, within our European family, we can face any challenge and any difficulty. Our bilateral relations with Bulgaria, political and economic, in energy and in transport and connectivity issues, in defense and police cooperation, in business and tourism, to name a few, they are at a peak, but they can always be even better. United we can make it.

Unfortunately, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a tragic reminder that war can still be close to our part of the world. We should safeguard international law and the security environment in our neighborhood. We can only do that in unity and in solidarity.

Let us keep up the effort and the strong will to make things better, for us and for the future generations, always remembering and learning from disasters as well as from glorious moments of the past.

Αγαπητοί συμπατριώτες, ζήτω η Ελλάδα, ζήτω η 25^η Μαρτίου, χρόνια πολλά! 

Thank you!

The reception was attended by ministers, ambassadors, diplomats, politicians, businessmen and representatives of the numerous Greek community in Bulgaria.

The photos are provided by the Embassy of Hellenic Republic to the Republic of Bulgaria Greece.

Above: H. E. Mr. Alexios Marios Liberopoulos, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hellenic Republic to the Republic of Bulgaria