Bulgaria organized Sunday a gala concert to start the celebrations of the 50th anniversary since the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which marked the foundation of the European Economic Community.

In his welcoming speech, the Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria Michael Humphreys said he hopes that in 50 years the EU will be even stronger than it is now.

"Tonight we celebrate the anniversary of the EU, which is 50-year-old but also 50-year-young," announced Mr. Humphreys.

He underlined that from 50 years now, the block has turned out to be a very important institution. In order to support his thesis, Michael Humphreys told the audience about an interesting reportage he saw, which proved that at the time of signing the Treaty of Rome, the world media was covering mostly the events in Algeria.

"I am quite sure that in 50 years time there will be huge news media reports in all countries around the world about our 50th anniversary celebrations today," Mr. Humphreys added.

He concluded his speech by pronouncing in Bulgarian the word "together", which is the motto of the EU's anniversary and expresses the idea of cooperation and solidarity among the member-states.

A special guest to the commemorative events was Mr. Panayotis Karvounis, Deputy Director of European Commission's Directorate General of Communications.

"The EU has transformed the political dreams into realities and it will continue to be so," said Mr. Karvounis.

He expressed his satisfaction about the fact that many young people, such as the students from Bulgaria's National School of Music "Lyubomir Pipkov" are taking active part in the EU's anniversary celebrations.

"Orchestras work together in peace and harmony, which is indeed very symbolic for the EU," concluded Mr. Karvounis.

The German Ambassador to Bulgaria HE Michael Geier has also welcomed the audience in the hall of Sofia's National Gallery of Arts.

He said that earlier in the day the German Embassy hosted an exciting event when Bulgarian students enjoyed delicious cakes, prepared by original recipes of all EU member-states.

HE Michael Geier emphasized on how talented Bulgarian musicians are, saying that his compatriots cannot even imagine an orchestra without at least one Bulgarian virtuoso.

The culmination of the festive occasion was the special program, prepared by pianists and violinists from Bulgaria's National School of Music "Lyubomir Pipkov". They performed Bulgarian and European classical works as well as Bulgarian folk compositions.

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