Bulgaria is marking Thursday, January 30, 120 years since the birth of Tsar Boris III The Unifier (1918-1943).

There will be a wreath laying ceremony at the Tsar's monument in Sofia's central park Borisova Gradina (named after him). An exhibit "Bulgaria's Brilliance - Palaces and Rulers of the Third Bulgarian Kingdom" will be presented in the gallery of the Union of Bulgarian Artists.

Boris III the Unifier, Tsar of the Bulgarians (30 January 1894 – 28 August 1943), was the son of Tsar Ferdinand I. He came to the throne in 1918 upon the abdication of his father, following the defeat of the Tsardom of Bulgaria during World War I.

During World War II, Boris III eventually allied Bulgaria with Nazi Germany, even though in the early days of the war he managed to keep Bulgaria neutral for two years.

In 1941, Boris reluctantly allied Bulgaria with the Axis Powers in an attempt to recover Macedonia from Greece and Yugoslavia, which had been gained by Bulgaria in the First Balkan War and lost again in the Second.

However, in spite of this loose alliance, Boris was not willing to render full and unconditional cooperation with Nazi Germany. Thus, Bulgaria never sent troops to fight the Soviet Army on the Eastern Front, unlike other Axis states, and Boris is also credited with preventing the deportation of some 50 000 Bulgarian Jews to Holocaust death camps in 1943 despite massive pressure by Hitler.

Tsar Boris III is the father of Bulgaria's last Tsar, Simeon II Saxe-Coburg, who served as a minor Tsar in 1943-1946, and as Bulgaria's Prime Minister in 2001-2005.

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