President Iliana Yotova met leaders of major American Jewish organisations in New York, the president's press office said. The meeting took place during her visit for the high-level week of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

Yotova spoke of Bulgaria's long tradition of tolerance. In turn, the Jewish organisations' representatives thanked her for the rescue of Bulgaria's Jews during World War Two, the press office said.

They also discussed plans for a Museum of Tolerance in Bulgaria. "This museum won't just look at the past — it will look to the future too. We want to tell the story of the dark days of the Holocaust so they never happen again," the president said, according to the press office.

Yotova said the issue matters even more now, as antisemitism grows around the world and some try to rewrite history. The way to fight this, she said, is to teach children to think critically. Today they can find any information they want, she said, so they need to learn to tell true from false on their own. That's why education plays such a big role, she added.

Iliana Yotova heads Bulgaria's delegation to the general debate of the UN General Assembly's 81st session in New York. Earlier on Wednesday, she took the podium and gave her speech to the assembly.