Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said Thursday at a breakfast meeting organized by the Israel Council on Foreign Relations (ICFR), which operates under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), that the Jewish community in Bulgaria was and remains an integral part of the country’s society. He also praised Israel as “an example of a model state,” and said that Israel and Bulgaria, which currently holds the Presidency of Council of the EU, “now enjoy better relations than ever.”
The event on Thursday, attended by a capacity audience including members of Knesset, foreign diplomats, and academics, came at the end of Radev’s official visit to Israel. During his address, the Bulgarian president stressed that “In Bulgaria, there is no negative image of Israel. Bulgarians have warm feelings toward Israelis.”
“I think Israel is an example of a model state,” Rudev added. “We see this in the hi-tech sector and the military. This model of keeping the citizens engaged, giving them the feeling that everyone has a part of the country’s future, this is the strength of your model and I think it could be beneficial to many other countries.”
Asked about moving Bulgaria’s embassy to Jerusalem, the president said that “recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is a very important issue,” but emphasized that “Jerusalem is only one element of the peace process. We are committed to facilitating an open, ongoing dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian,” he said.
Radev also referred in his address to the heroic refusal of Bulgarian society to allow the Germans to deport Bulgarian Jewry in 1943, the 75th anniversary of which was marked earlier this month by the Bulgarian government, Jewish community, and the World Jewish Congress.
“Bulgarians opened their hearts and homes to the Jewish community,” Radev underscored, expressing regret that the Jews of Thrace and Macedonia, which were under Bulgarian occupation during the war, were deported to their deaths in Treblinka.
Radev also noted that he was glad to have had the opportunity during his visit to meet with Israelis of Bulgarian origin living in Israel and was impressed with the depth of their feelings toward Bulgaria.
The ICFR meeting was chaired by World Jewish Congress CEO & Executive Vice President Robert Singer, who has visited Bulgaria twice in the last six weeks: first in February to deliver a petition to Prime Minister Boyko Borisov signed by nearly 180,000 people worldwide protesting the annual Neo-Nazi march honoring the Bulgarian fascist Hristo Lukov, and again in early March together with WJC President Ronald S. Lauder to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews.