MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said in an interview with a local television channel he planned to invite Russia’s Vladimir Putin next year to celebrate the nation’s liberation from the Ottoman rule.
"I will soon talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin and I am going to invite him to celebrations marking 140 years of Bulgaria’s liberation," he told the BTV television channel.
Radev said he was not going to treat Russia and Bulgaria’s history differently under pressure from "a bunch of deputies" after his decision to invite President Putin was met with criticism in parliament.
Bulgaria reclaimed most of the land it lost to the Ottoman Empire since the 14th century after a two-year war between Russia and what is now Turkey. The conflict ended in a 1878 treaty that created an autonomous Bulgaria. The Eastern European nation celebrates the Liberation Day on March 3.
