Bulgarian President joins condemnation of Orlando mass shooting
In a condolences cable to US President Barack Obama, Bulgarian head of state Rossen Plevneliev has condemned the terrorist attack on a LGBT club in Orlando, Florida, in which 50 people died and 53 were injured.
In the cable, Plevneliev expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
Bulgaria strongly condemns such acts of violence and acts of hatred that are absolutely unacceptable and cannot be justified in any way, Plevneliev said.
The mass murder was carried out by an individual identified as Omar Mateen. Reports said that the terrorist and organised crime group Daesh, the self-styled “Islamic State” had called Mateen one of its “soldiers”.
Bulgaria’s Kristalina Georgieva, Vice-President of the European Commission, described the Orlando attack as horrific. “My thoughts are with all the victims and their loved ones,” Georgieva said in a message on Twitter.
Nikolai Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and formerly Bulgaria’s foreign minister, referred to several recent attacks – in Orlando, Tel Aviv, Baghdad and Beirut – in a Twitter message: “The world must unite against hatred, incitement and radicalism that fuel terror. Inaction is not an option”.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the attack in Orlando was a tragedy not only for the American people, but for the whole world as all the massacres of people killed for their faith, for their sexual orientations, for their beliefs, in many countries are.
“Today, our thoughts and our hearts are with the families of the victims. We stand together in solidarity with the people of America, and especially with the LGBTI community which this hateful terror attack targeted.
“As the European Union, we are committed to keep ensuring cooperation of our services on all levels, and standing proudly together. We share the same values of equality and non discrimination. And together we will continue to promote and defend those values,” Mogherini said.
