On March 26, H. E. Mr. Alexios Marios Liberopoulos, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hellenic Republic to the Republic of Bulgaria,
and his wife Ms. Theodora Petrou gave a reception in hotel Sofia Balkan Palace on the occasion of the country's national holiday. Independence Day, March 25, is the date on which Greeks mark the anniversary of the 1821 uprising that led to their liberation from Ottoman rule and the establishment of an independent Greek state in 1830.
In his welcoming speech, H. E. Mr. Alexios Marios Liberopoulos emphasized the significance of the date:
Thank you for joining us in celebrating our 204 years since the beginning of the fight of Greeks for their liberation from the Ottoman Empire. It was the 25th of March in 1821 when the revolution started. "They called us crazy, but if we weren’t crazy there would be no revolution", had said Theodoros Kolokotronis, one of the leaders of the revolution.
Today, Greece, is a member of the European Union and NATO, OSCE, and OECD, and many other organizations, and is serving now, for the years 2025-2026, as a non Permanent Member of the UN Security Council. Our moto is "Dialogue, Diplomacy and Democracy", and we are a strong supporter of upholding international law as well as of principles and values of the UN, the European Union and all other organizations we are part of.
In this context, and in the framework of a rapidly changing geopolitical environment, with wars and conflicts, and so much unjustified suffering and loss of human life, including in our neighborhood, we are counting on our good neighbors and friends such as Bulgaria and its people in order to fight for peace, rule of law, prosperity and the protection of human rights.
Greece and Bulgaria’s strategic cooperation has been strengthened significantly over the past 4 years. A game changer was the gas Interconnector Greece – Bulgaria (IGB) which became operational in October 2022, and so many other energy, transport and connectivity projects such as the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) – the new LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis, in the region of Thrace. We have enhanced cooperation in areas such as defense, internal security, tourism, business and trade.
More than 1,87 mil. Bulgarians crossed the land borders to Greece in 2024, before the full accession of Bulgaria to Schengen. At the same period, over 1,1mn Greeks crossed the land borders to Bulgaria. In 2025, with open border crossings between our countries we expect much larger numbers. The volume of our bilateral tradе reached, in 2024, 5,4 bn Euros and the Greek FDI in Bulgaria amounted, at the end 2024, to almost 3,6bn Euros.
The further enhancement of our bilateral relations was also reflected in our frequent exchange of high level visits. In 2025 alone, after the new regular government was sworn in, we had visits of four Greek Ministers to Sofia. At this point, allow me to thank the Presidency, the Government and every Institution and Authority for always being open to discuss issues of common interest.
We need to keep deepening our bilateral cooperation if we want to be resilient and stronger. We should keep helping each other, especially now that we live in challenging times in our region and internationally.
Let me also congratulate Bulgaria for fully acceding, together with Romania, to Schengen and express Greece’s full support, as we did with Schengen, for its accession to the Eurozone and OECD the soonest possible.
Finally, we have the pleasure this year to include in our celebration an art exhibition with some works of the artist Makis Varlamis, from his Greek Lanscapes collection. I thank the Experimental Workshop of Vergina for providing these works and Mr. Makis Mavropoulos for sponsoring this exhibition.
In closing, allow me to also thank our sponsors who made this reception possible: PRODEA Investments, SOFIA MED, POSTBANK, EKO Bulgaria, The Hellenic Business Council in Bulgaria (HBCB), Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, the company managing the IGB (ICGB), the Selected Brands and, of course, this wonderful hotel, the Sofia Balkan Palace.
Long live March 25th! Long live Greece!
Ζήτω η 25η Μαρτίου! Zήτω η Ελλάδα!
The reception was attendet by ministers, ambassadors, diplomats, politicians, businessmen, friends of Greece and representatives of the numerous Greek community in Bulgaria.
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The photos are provided by the Embassy of Hellenic Republic to the Republic of Bulgaria. Above: H. E. Mr. Alexios Marios Liberopoulos, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hellenic Republic to the Republic of Bulgaria
