President: 'Bulgaria is the Birthplace and Guardian of the Sacred Cyrillic Alphabet'

“Bulgaria is the homeland and guardian of the sacred Cyrillic script” — with these words, President Iliana Iotova opened the third edition of the International Cyrillic Forum on March 25.

The conference, titled “Spiritual Heritage in the Digital Age”, brought together scholars from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and universities across Bulgaria, alongside leading speakers from Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Kazakhstan and China. The event is held under the initiative of President Iotova.

In her address, she emphasised that the International Cyrillic Forum does not build barriers but breaks them down, highlighting the importance of respecting diversity. The forum will continue tomorrow at the Rila Monastery.

Iliana Iotova, President of Bulgaria:

“Letters have a memory, and they outlive us. Through the written word, humanity does not forget its past and shapes its future. The same words have served us since the very beginnings of our statehood to this day, when — through those same omnipresent words — we even communicate with artificial intelligence. Without our letters and our words, artificial intelligence is nothing more than a lifeless machine.

We remain committed to our mission to promote the historical truth that Bulgaria is the birthplace and guardian of the sacred Cyrillic alphabet. For us, as Bulgarians, it is the foundation of the language of our ancestral memory and our national identity.”