Tag Archives: Bulgaria

Bulgarians Celebrate Epiphany With an Icy Dip

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Bulgaria Orthodox Epiphany

 

Thousands of young men are plunging into icy rivers and lakes across Bulgaria to retrieve crucifixes cast by priests in an old ritual marking the feast of Epiphany.

By tradition, a crucifix is cast into the waters of a lake or river, and it is believed that the person who retrieves it will be freed from evil spirits and will be healthy through the year.

The celebration of Epiphany, or the Apparition of Christ, as Bulgarians call it, began on Monday in Sofia with a water blessing ceremony.

The head of Bulgaria’s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Neofit, said a prayer for the prosperity of the people and blessed the colors of representative army units — a tradition abandoned in 1946 and re-established in 1992.

 

 Անկախ

Bulgaria Builds Fence on Border With Turkey

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Բուլղարիա,Թուրքիա, սահման, արգելապատնեշ

 

Bulgarian authorities say they are constructing a fence on a 30-kilometer (19-mile) stretch of the country’s 274-kilometer (171-mile) border with Turkey in an effort to stop illegal immigration.

Defense Minister Angel Naydenov said Thursday that the 3-meter-high (10-foot-) fence is expected to be ready by February. It will run mainly through forested, hilly areas where visibility for border patrols is limited.

Bulgarian authorities have rejected accusations the fence was aimed at keeping out refugees from Syria and other war-ravaged countries seeking to get into the EU. The country has faced an influx of migrants that far outnumbers its capacity.

During the Cold War, Bulgaria’s barbed-wire borders prevented its citizens from fleeing to the West, but after the country joined NATO in 2004 all fences were removed.

 

Students Block Access to Bulgarian University

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Կլիմենտ Օրչրիդսկի համալսարան

Several hundred students have blocked access to Bulgaria’s largest university, demanding the dissolution of Parliament and calling for new elections.

The protest at Kliment Ochridsky University in the capital, Sofia, will likely energize an anti-government movement that has spent four months protesting the country’s leadership.

The demonstrators’ unhappiness stems from allegations that government leaders have ties with shady businessmen and other claims of official corruption.

As the students blocked the entrances to the university Monday, they issued a statement insisting that the country’s governance must be based on “moral values rather than personal benefits.”

University administrators held an emergency meeting to discuss how to handle the blockade and the cancellation of classes it has triggered.