WWII Victory Day | New Names for Old Traditions

Ties to Russia still run strong in the post-soviet bloc country Bulgaria. Recently, the Bulgarian government declared 2008 the year of Russia in celebration of the prolonged and maintained relationship to their slavic brothers. A WWII veteran here gives a speech to commemorate "Victory Day" when the Second World War ended. During the time of the Soviet Union in Bulgaria, this holiday was treated as a make-shift day of independence observed throughout the Soviet Bloc countries. Symbolically, since joining the European Union in 2007, Bulgarians have renamed this holiday to "Europe Day" as the day of the creation of the European Union. This is emphatic of culture in Bulgaria. The names and international politics changes but by and large the Bulgarians keep to their own traditions.w