Representatives of the initiative “A Child’s Tear – a Prayer” presented a commemorative plaque “Shipka” to the political parties in Parliament for the 140th anniversary of the Liberation of Bulgaria and the formation of the Third Bulgarian state.

The patriotic education of children should be the goal of every Bulgarian citizen, said Speaker of Parliament Tsveta Karayancheva at the ceremony. In her words, what children can get from patriotic education is a strong bond with the Fatherland. 140 years after the Liberation we honour the sacrifice of the Bulgarian volunteers, who despite not being soldiers, fought for the freedom of the motherland with their hearts and souls, emphasised Tsveta Karayancheva. She thanked the patriotic organisations for teaching love for the fatherland to young Bulgarians.

Chair of the Public Council on Defence retired lieutenant general Kiril Tsvetkov said that five years ago, concerned by the problems with the patriotic education of adolescents and young people, 12 associations had signed a memorandum to support the initiative “A Child’s Tear – a Prayer”.  Today there are 48 associations representing over 600 schools, community cultural centres and clubs across the country, he emphasised and added that every year more than 500,000 children participated in the initiative. Our goal is to arouse the patriotic feeling in young people and encourage them to become advocates of the Bulgarian spirit, emphasised lieutenant general Tsvetkov. We are presenting this commemorative plaque not to commit the parties but to remind them how the liberation of Bulgaria was achieved and how to protect our motherland, he added.

A commemorative plaque “Shipka” for upholding Bulgarian interests and protecting the nation’s memory was presented to representatives of GERB, BSP, IMRO, MRF, ATAKA and NFSB.

Upon receiving the commemorative plaque, Deputy Speaker of Parliament and member of ATAKA Yavor Notev said that this meant great honour and responsibility for him. I am committed to working for the cause, and we will continue our consistent efforts in pursuit of the goals of patriotic education, he added.