Ministers and cabinet members paid their respects at the memorial plaque of the Belene camp
Ministers and members of the Cabinet, representatives of local authorities and the community visited the former Belene camp to pay their respects on today's Day of Appreciation and Tribute to the Victims of the Communist Regime.
The initiative for the honorary act in the concentration camp was taken by the Ministers of Environment and Water Julian Popov, of Justice Atanas Slavov and of Culture Krastyu Krastev.
To pay their respects and lay flowers at the memorial plaque of the Belene camp they were joined by the Ministers of Defence Todor Tagarev, of Health prof. Hristo Hinkov, of e-government Alexander Yolovski, Deputy Ministers of Energy Krasimir Nenov, of Transport and Communications Biser Minchev, of Culture Arch. Chavdar Georgiev and of Justice Emil Dechev.
Flowers were also presented on behalf of the Prime Minister Acad. Nikolay Denkov, who is on a working visit to Brussels, as well as from other ministries.
The act of tribute was also attended by the Mayor of Belene Milen Dulev, the Director of the Belene Island Foundation Mikhail Marinov and Luiza Slavkova, Borislav Dimitrov and prof. Momchil Metodiev from Sofia Platform Foundation.
The Belene camp is the largest, the longest existing and the best preserved of the network of prisons for the internment of dissidents after 1944. This year marks the 75th anniversary of its opening. For the sake of historical memory and duty to future generations, a publicly accessible place of remembrance and appreciation for the victims deserves to be built.
At the same time, Persin Island is home to one of the largest and richest nature parks in Bulgaria. The town and the islands of the Belene archipelago have the potential to become a place for ecological, historical and cultural tourism.
