“The Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising by far oversteps the bounds of the age. It has come to be a symbol of the rebellious Bulgarian spirit and the fight for human rights, dignity and freedom,” said President Rumen Radev in an address at the solemn scientific session at the St. Kliment Ohridski University in Sofia, to mark the occasion. “It is up to us to keep the uprising as one of the important factors leading to the resolution of problems, based on the historical truth, which will bring us closer to North Macedonia for the sake of our common future. I believe that if there is common history, a desire for dialogue, understanding and trust, there is bound to be a common European future,” the president said.

The Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising from 1903 against Ottoman rule in Macedonia and Adrianople was organized by the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization. The uprising continued into the autumn, and though thousands of lives were lost, put the Macedonian question in the focus of attention of European politics.