Feature: Bulgarians celebrate World War II victory

Bulgarians throughout the country held commemorative ceremonies on Saturday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of victory in the Second World War.

A solemn ceremony at the Monument of the Soviet Army in Sofia was one of the key events in the capital of the Balkan country, bringing together about 5,000 people, decorated with striped black and orange ribbons.

Accompanied by the melodies of Russian, Soviet and Bulgarian songs, people laid flowers and wreaths at the base of the 37-meter high monument, which was built by the thankful Bulgarian people in 1954 in the center of the city.

The famous Bulgarian singer and actress Greta Gancheva performed the Russian song "Victory Day", and dozens of white balloons with the inscription "70 years of victory" and white pigeons were released.

In a congratulatory speech, Mihail Mikov, leader of Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), said Bulgaria, as well as millions in Europe and around the world, honored the heroism of the glorious Red Army and the soldiers of the allied coalition, who with their blood wrote pages that no one can erase.

Yuriy Isakov, Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria, said his country bow to the memory of anti-fascist fighters from all the countries, including Bulgarian participants in the resistance and also Bulgarian soldiers who in the final stage of the war, fought against fascism shoulder to shoulder with the Soviet Army.

Simeon Penchev, 80, was among the people who laid flowers at the monument. "Ninth of May is a great day for the progressive humanity, a day of victory over Nazi Germany," he told Xinhua.

Atanas Merdzhanov, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Group "BSP Leftist Bulgaria", told Xinhua it was "a very great day for the history of the peoples of Eastern Europe and of course for Bulgaria because this day marks the beginning of vigorous development and modernization of Bulgaria, that has happened never before." Endit