Today we mark the 135^th anniversary of the adoption of the Tarnovo Constitution – the first Bulgarian constitution. According to the 1878 Treaty of Berlin and after the 1877 – 78 Russo – Turkish War, the Bulgarian lands were divided in several parts. North Bulgaria and the Sofia District entered the Principality of Bulgaria. The lands to the South of the Balkan Range still remained under the Turkish sultan’s authority within Eastern Rumelia. Bulgaria’s parliamentary democracy was grounded on this constitution, which was innovative, progressive and liberal. The document regulated the implementation of basic principles, such as public representation and separation of powers. It confirmed the publicly contracted civil rights and freedoms of each person. The Tarnovo Constitution would comply with the main demand of the Berlin Treaty for a hereditary monarchy, as the people participated in governing via a National Assembly.

The creation of a constitution was the task of a Constituent National Assembly, summoned on 10 February 1879 in the old capital town of Tarnovo. The first MPs had taken part in the national liberation struggles, many of them were intellectuals, graduates of prestigious West European universities.

“Freedom became the basic value and major line of the Tarnovo Constitution. Thus passing through time this freedom turned into the greatest testimonial on the maturity of Bulgaria’s intellectual thought after the Liberation”. That was what Parliamentary Chair Mikhail Mikhov said in the building of the Constituent National Assembly in the town of Veliko Tarnovo, greeting the participants in a scientific conference on the occasion:

“229 enlightened Bulgarians gathered and within the frameworks of a few months only they completed a deed, which grounded free Bulgaria,” he said. “These people from the 5 provinces – the ones of Varna, Ruse, Tarnovo, Sofia and Vidin gathered at a point, when Bulgaria was seeking its path on the map of modern European countries. Those faced the question: should they establish the principality, or should they look for unification. The Constituent National Assembly saw its obstacles and ruined sessions. Those, who refused to accept the tearing of Bulgaria, wanted the adoption of the constitution to take place after the unification of the state. Common sense won the debate and thus the Tarnovo Constitution was born. These people had the total freedom to design the basic document, provided by Prince Alexander of Battenberg. This way freedom became the supreme value, as it had set off from the cell of Paisius of Hilendar, gone through the religious and revolutionary struggles of the 19^th century, through the bloody days of the April Uprising, in order to end up in this sacred hall. People know and remember the texts of the Tarnovo Constitution that give us freedom today either. Freedom of speech, of meetings, assemblies and demonstrations. Freedom – personal and for everyone, living in Bulgaria. That was why the establishers wrote that powerful text: “each slave, who steps on Bulgarian land, no matter the gender, religion or ethnicity, becomes a free person”. That happened far before 1926, when trading of people was officially banned. Many European countries saw it as something normal back then. Obviously our predecessors had outrun their time,” Parliamentary Chair Mikhail Mikhov said in his speech.

The Tarnovo Constitution acted till 6 December 1947. It was followed by two more totalitarian constitutions in 1947 and 1971, during the communist regime, while today we have the democratic constitution of 1991.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev