Bulgaria Parliament Votes against August 23 National Holiday

August 23 is also marked in Bulgaria for the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

The Bulgarian Parliament has voted against the proposal for August 23 to be a national holiday and day off work.

Luchezar Toshev, an MP from the rightist Blue Coalition, proposed that Bulgaria should mark August 23 as a day on which Bulgaria both honors the victims of Nazism and Stalinism, as do other EU countries. Deputy Chair of the ethnic Turkish DPS party, Lyutvi Mestan, also recently backed the idea.

13 MPs voted for the proposal with 57 against and 59 MPs abstaining. The changes also foresee September 9 as being a national remembrance day for the victims of Nazism and Stalinism

August 23 is also marked in Bulgaria for the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottoman Turkish Empire.