Bulgaria marked Military Paratrooper Day in Sofia with a ceremony for the 82nd anniversary of the Parachute Battalion's first day in combat. It took place on Narodno Sabranie Square, in front of the memorial plaque to fallen paratroopers.
President Iliana Yotova, as supreme commander, inspected the guard of honour and paid tribute to Bulgaria's paratroopers. The national anthem and the paratroopers' anthem were played.
Defence minister Dimitar Stoyanov and deputy minister Katerina Gramatikova-Ivanova attended, along with chief of defence Admiral Emil Eftimov and Brig Gen Bozhidar Boykov, commander of the Joint Special Operations Command. Ivan Lalov, chair of the defence committee, and other MPs were also there.
Veterans and servicemen and women from the Joint Special Operations Command came too, as did officials from the Defence Ministry and the armed forces.
Wreaths and flowers were laid on behalf of President Yotova, prime minister Rumen Radev, defence minister Stoyanov and parliament speaker Mihaela Dotsova. Parliamentary groups, associations and military units also left flowers.
The Parachute Battalion belongs to the First Bulgarian Army and first saw combat in 1944.