News - Poland, Warsaw, Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria

On March 5, 2026, the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Warsaw, together with the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Warsaw, organized a concert on the occasion of the National Day and the 148th anniversary of the Liberation of Bulgaria, which took place in the concert hall of the Frederic Chopin University of Music. About 150 guests were present, including: representatives of the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Sejm and the Senate of Poland, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Agriculture, representatives of local authorities - mayors and regional governors, NGOs, academia - universities and the diplomatic corps in Warsaw. Among those present were: Deputy State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland – Mr. Artur Harazym, Ms. Bozena Zhelezovska, State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, Col. Mariusz Soliwodski, Deputy Director of the National Security Bureau under the President of the Republic of Poland, Ms. Mariana Otmianowska, Director of the Łazienki Krulewske Museum in Warsaw, the Honorary Consuls of the Republic of Bulgaria in Krakow, Gdansk, Bialystok and Poznan.

A special guest from Bulgaria was Mr. Kiril Valchev, Director General of BTA.

After the national anthems of the two countries and the European anthem were played, in her address to the guests, the Bulgarian Ambassador Margarita Ganeva emphasized the importance of the National Holiday as a symbol of the revival of national identity and national memory. She shared about the similarity in some historical aspects of the destinies and struggles for freedom and independence between Bulgaria and Poland, as a natural continuation of the long-standing excellent bilateral relations. The speech emphasized the achievements in recent years in the individual areas of Bulgarian-Polish cooperation: foreign economic relations and record levels of trade between the two countries over the past few years, the growth of Polish investments in Bulgaria and Bulgarian ones in Poland. (Trade relations between the two countries mark a record level of trade turnover for 2024, reaching almost 5 billion euros, which is an increase of about 30%. Polish investments in Bulgaria have increased from 247 million euros to 583 million euros.)

Ambassador Ganeva emphasized cooperation in the field of tourism, as over the past 3 years, Polish tourists visiting Bulgaria have exceeded 450,000 annually, with preliminary data for 2025 indicating a growth of over 7%, facilitated by the opening of year-round flights to Sofia from Wroclaw, Krakow and Warsaw (Modlin), which in turn increases the number of visits by Bulgarian tourists to Poland, which are already about 100 thousand in 2025.

The Ambassador expressed special gratitude to the Bulgarian honorary consuls in the country for their cooperation and activity, for their role in promoting Bulgarian culture, tourism and economic cooperation. Two main events were also highlighted, which were initiated and implemented by the Bulgarian Embassy in Poland, proving the potential between Poland and Bulgaria over the years: 2023 – declared the Year of the Supraski Sbornik – created by the Preslav Literary School in the 10th century, discovered 200 years ago and preserved in excellent condition in the National Library of Warsaw; the international conference and exhibition with original artifacts from the Bulgarian-Polish Archaeological Expedition “Nove”, which has been conducting research in the vicinity of the town of Svishtov for 65 years.

An official ceremony was held to award:

Mr. Maciej Szymanski, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of Bulgaria in the period 2019-2025 with the Order of the Madara Horseman, first degree, for his particularly great services to the strengthening and development of bilateral relations between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Poland. Ambassador Szymanski thanked for the honor.
Prof. Georgi Minchev from the University of Lodz - Poland, was awarded the Order of "St. Cyril and Methodius" first degree, for his great merits in the field of education and science and for the popularization of Bulgarian culture. Professor Michnev thanked for the high honor.
From the Polish side, a short greeting was delivered by the Deputy State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland - Mr. Artur Harazym, who noted the excellent bilateral relations and expressed hope that the fruitful cooperation will continue to contribute to the prosperity of the two peoples.

After the official part, prominent representatives of the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts "Prof. Assen Diamandiev" - Plovdiv - Prof. Romeo Smilkov, Dr. Velislava Stoyanova and the young pianist Martin Dafinov presented the audience with a piano recital, in which works by Bulgarian composers Petko Staynov, Veselin Stoyanov, Ivan Spasov and Nikolay Stoykov were performed. A special place in the program was occupied by the emblematic "Thracian Dances" by Petko Staynov, whose 100th anniversary will be celebrated this year.

The solemn celebration of the National Day ended with a cocktail for the invited guests.