25.05.2017
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov met with three of the initiators of the nomination of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for the Nobel Peace Price – Gen. Dr. Efraim Sneh, former Minister of health of Israel, and the lawyers Moshe Aloni and Elizar Pleigil. They are among the most active supporters of the initiative, which aims to deliver a well-deserved international recognition for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Holy Synod for their efforts in the period 1941-1943 for saving close to 50 thousand Bulgarian Jews. The idea for the nomination of the religious institution was announced at the welcoming of Prime Minister Borissov in Israel in 2016 and is supported by hundreds of descendants of saved Bulgarian Jews. For the purposes of the nomination, the “Gratitude” Association has been founded.
Ambassador Irit Lillian also took part in the meeting.
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov thanked the Association for their commitment to the cause, which gives publicity to an unprecedented fact in world history at a time when the language of hatred is very audible. “There are events that should never be forgotten. Such is the Holocaust, but such an event is also the unification of a people under the spiritual leadership of its Church in defence of human life. We are proud to belong to a people that in the darkest of times did not remain indifferent to the fate of its compatriots of Jewish descent and rose in their defence,” pointed out the Prime Minister. He expressed his conviction that Bulgaria and its government will continue to categorically counteract all expressions of intolerance and xenophobia.
Moshe Aloni, Efraim Sneh and Elizar Pleigil thanked Prime Minister Borissov for his personal engagement for establishing and maintaining dialogue and understanding among the different religious and ethnic groups in Bulgaria. They noted that in him they see a guarantee for avoidance and prevention of any acts that could tarnish and create political speculations on the role of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Bulgarian people in saving the Bulgarian Jews and that could in any way harm the international image of Bulgaria.
