Georgi Valentinov Georgiev, chairman of the Metropolitan Municipal Council Sofia, reported that he visited the Humanitarian Center of the Association of Ukrainian Organizations in Bulgaria, “Mati Ukraine”, together with the Ambassador of Ukraine to Bulgaria Vitaly Moskalenko and the Executive Vice President of the European Commission in charge of the economy in the interest of the people.
Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Trade, thanked and encouraged the Bulgarian people caring for Ukraine’s war refugees.
Georgiev outlined that the European Union has accepted about four million Ukrainian refugees; about 50,000 arrived in Bulgaria. Bulgaria accepted all of them and provided food and shelter to the refugees who fled their country in order to save themselves from Russian aggression.
Municipal Council’s chairman also remarked that during the beginning of Russian aggression, the Metropolitan Municipal Council helped the Association and secured a comfortable and large enough room for collecting aid for Ukrainian refugees.
He thanked Elena Kotseva and her team and all the compassionate capitalists who contributed to making Ukrainian children and women fleeing horror feel well-accepted and calmer.
Georgiev emphasised that Bulgaria always steps up if a country is in need. Since the beginning of the conflict, Bulgaria has provided numerous humanitarian aid packages and other essential supplies to assist the Ukrainian people.
Bulgaria also assisted neighbouring Turkey, which has been experiencing terrible natural disasters since February 6 when two deadly earthquakes hit the nation. In order to assist Turkey in its rescue efforts, Bulgaria has already dispatched two Spartan military transport aircraft.
Georgiev said, “20 days have passed since the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The Metropolitan Municipality was among the first to reach out to our neighbours, and we sent teams from the Emergency Service to help clean up the debris. We quickly discovered donation collection points for the victims”.
He remarked that hundreds of sleeping bags, tents, mattresses, gas stoves, outdoor batteries, blankets and lightweight blankets, winter clothes, diapers, and essential hygiene materials were collected and ready to send to Turkey.
Council’s chairman also emphasised that a few days ago, he visited the earthquake-affected regions with Turkish Deputy Ambassador Mr Mustafa Kara. “The overwhelming empathy we’ve witnessed since the earthquake once again proves what a compassionate people we are”, said Georgiev.
He outlined that no power can erase the nightmare from the minds of the people of Adana, Kahramanmarash, and Gaziantep. Still, with the support, at least Bulgaria can contribute to restoring their belief that good always prevails.