''In the hierarchy of spirit and culture, the leaders are not politicians, but the knights of the letters.'' This is what Bulgarian President Rumen Radev stated during the official ceremony on the occasion of May 24, the Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavonic Literature Day, in front of the St. St. Cyril and Methodius National Library, FOCUS News Agency reported.

“Dear compatriots, I am skipping the traditional protocol addresses, as today we are all simply Bulgarians. In the hierarchy of spirit and culture, the leaders are not the politicians but the knights of the letters. Such a knight could be any woken Bulgarian child. We all have one motherland – Bulgaria. Fate takes many away from it. But there is always one invisible motherland, which everybody carries with them wherever they go,” the head of state said.

“Our language inspires and comforts us. When the spirit withers, language suffers along with us. It suffers from our spelling. The dictionary is losing the important words, the grammar suffers. Like a desolate home, uninvited loan- words settle there. But the language of Vazov and Mihaylovski, of Aleko and Geo Milev, of Vaptsarov and Valeri Petrov will not die. It will outlive the ignorance and the experiments of the unwise, who cannot handle its words. There will always be millions of people who, here and far away from their motherland, will write and breathe in the rhythm of the Bulgarian verse, will play with its words and dream in Bulgarian,” he also added.

President Rumen Radev concluded his speech, stating: “Words are our common capital. So let us protect them, as they also protect us, let us seek them, because sometimes the correct word disappears like a lost key. But if you find it, it opens doors. Happy holiday!”