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p April 21, 1971

p Dear comrades and friends, on behalf of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the whole Soviet people our delegation conveys cordial fraternal greetings to the 10th Congress of the Bulgarian Communist Party and all Communists and working people of Bulgaria. (Prolonged applause.} We are sincerely grateful to the Central Committee of your Party for the invitation to attend the Congress and wish the delegates to the Congress successful, fruitful work. (Applause)

p The wonderful achievements mentioned in the report of the Central Committee of the BCP delivered by Comrade Todor Zhivkov and in the speeches of delegates cannot fail to delight all the friends of socialist Bulgaria. These achievements embody the labour of the people and the policy of the Communist Party, which is confidently leading the Bulgarian people along the path of socialism.

p By its entire heroic history, its work and its devoted service to the people the Bulgarian Communist Party has proved its ability and right to head the building of socialism. Fidelity to Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, close unity with the broadest masses of working people and a knowledge of their needs and aspirations give the Communists strength and make them the recognised leaders of the nationwide drive for socialism.

p The firm alliance between the working class and the working peasantry of Bulgaria, which is also expressed in the long-standing fraternal cooperation between the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Bulgarian People’s Agrarian 454 Union, has indissolubly united the Bulgarian people on the foundation of socialist ideals.

p Tsarist Bulgaria was one of the most backward countries in Europe. For many decades it was the object of imperialist intrigues and the victim of bellicose adventurism and fascist terror. Today all that has irreversibly receded into the past. Bulgaria has become a flourishing socialist country with a large modern industry and an advanced agriculture. Bulgarian towns have acquired a new look. The countryside has changed beyond recognition. Present-day Bulgaria is a sovereign state, an active participant in international life and an equal and esteemed member of the fraternal family of socialist countries and peoples.

p All this, comrades, has been accomplished by the power of the working people, by the Communist Party, by the workers, peasants and intellectuals, by a people delivered from the fetters of exploitation and tyranny.

p Fundamental social problems whose solution had been sought by many generations of revolutionaries have been resolved in the fraternal socialist countries. Exploitation of man by man has been abolished. There is no unemployment. Every working person feels himself the master of his own life and of his country. This is a good foundation for a confident advance to new summits in the building of socialism and communism and a reliable basis for the realisation of the most ambitious plans. It goes without saying that Communists are far from asserting that the future promises an idyllic, cloudless life. Every new period of social development poses its own big and complex tasks. In the course of the building of socialism and communism difficulties and contradictions arise which have to be surmounted. However, the aims set by the Communists are quite achievable. And they will most certainly be achieved.

p The 10th Congress, which is to endorse the Programme of the Bulgarian Communist Party, ushers in a new and important stage in the life of your Party and country. The possibility of being with you during these days and taking part in the work of your Congress is regarded by us as a great honour and as evidence of the unbreakable ties between our Parties and our peoples. (Stormy applause.)

p In drawing up the draft of its Programme, the Bulgarian Communist Party could rely on the experience it has gained in carrying out socialist reforms and on the glorious 455 internationalist traditions of the Communists of Bulgaria, the traditions of Blagoyev and Dimitrov. The draft Programme formulates a consistent line towards the building of a developed socialist society, towards the steadily fuller satisfaction of the material and cultural requirements of the working people. This is the main thing, comrades. Socialism’s strength lies in the fact that the socialist system serves the interests of the working people. This is the secret of its durability and the source of the people’s trust, which is enjoyed by the Communists, who head the revolutionary reorganisation of society in line with the principles of Marxism-Leninism.

p The Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Bulgarian Communist Party and other fraternal Parties today have a most valuable possession—international experience of the struggle for socialism and communism. The Communist Parties creatively apply this experience to the conditions in their own countries. We, Soviet Communists, are well aware that at all stages of its history the Bulgarian Communist Party has acted in close fraternal cooperation with our Party, with the revolutionaries of our country. The indissoluble militant friendship between the Soviet and Bulgarian Communists has been, is and will be a firm link of the front of socialist countries, of the common front of revolutionary forces. (Stormy, prolonged applause.)

p Allow me, comrade delegates, to convey the heartfelt wishes of the Soviet Communists and of our whole people for complete success in the fulfilment of the economic, political and social tasks set for the coming five years and in the achievement of the great aims spelled out in your Party’s draft Programme. (Prolonged applause.)

p Comrades, the Soviet delegation has come to Sofia with fresh impressions of the proceedings at the 24th Congress of the CPSU, which determined the principal tasks of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Soviet state and our entire people for the coming five years.

p For Communists and all Soviet people the Congress decisions open up wide vistas for the building of communism.

p Steadfastly guided by the Leninist principles underlying its national policy, our Party will continue to do its utmost for the further florescence of all the socialist nations forming the Soviet Union and for drawing them gradually closer together.

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p During the new five-year period we shall perseveringly continue the line aimed at enhancing the efficacy of the whole of social production, accelerating the introduction of the achievements of scientific and technological progress in the national economy and improving the system of management and planning. Upon completion of the transition to universal secondary education we shall have a still more reliable foundation for the further growth of the cultural and educational level of Soviet people. In all spheres our efforts will be directed towards the implementation of the principal task, namely, the further growth of the people’s living standard and cultural level. This is the pivot of our entire policy.

p The results of the Congress have been unanimously approved by the Soviet people. Practical work has been started to carry out the Party’s plans. Although there is much for us to do, and we are faced with big tasks, we are confident in our complete success. The guarantee for this is the atmosphere of labour and political upsurge reigning in our country. (Applause.}

p Virtually every day brings news of further achievements by Soviet people on the fronts of labour, culture, science and technology. A fine example of this is the successful launching into orbit of the scientific space station Salute on April 19. (Prolonged applause.) This, comrades, is not only a further major advance in the exploration and harnessing of outer space but an extremely important stage for further progress in this field, which is important to the whole of mankind.

p Our delegation has been deeply moved by the high assessment, given from this rostrum, of the work of our Party and the decisions of the 24th Congress of the CPSU. I should like to thank you heartily for these fraternal feelings, for the warm words addressed here to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. (Applause.) Further, I should like to express again our gratitude for the participation in the work of our Congress of a delegation from the BCP headed by Comrade Todor Zhivkov, a prominent figure in the international communist movement and our great friend. (Stormy, prolonged applause.) Allow me to assure you, dear comrades, that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union will continue to be consistently true to the Leninist internationalist traditions and bend every effort to strengthen and promote 457 friendship and cooperaion with the Bulgarian Communists, with the Communists of other socialist countries, with all our comrades-in-arms in the struggle for socialism and communism. (Stormy, prolonged applause.)

p Comrades, in each country the building of socialism has its own specifics, its own characteristic distinctive features. This is quite natural. At the same time, as the draft Programme of the BCP correctly emphasises, the decisive significance of the general laws governing the development of all socialist countries has been proved by history. It is, therefore, by no means accidental, for instance, that there is a profound link between the questions which the 10th Congress of the BCP is discussing and the tasks that were considered by the 24th Congress of the CPSU.

p It is natural that the attention of the two Congresses has been centred on a task like attaining a substantial rise in the people’s standard of living. The road to the fulfilment of this lies through the further growth of the productivity of social labour, a well-considered policy of investments and the planned, proportionate development of all branches of the national economy.

p Both the 24th Congress of the CPSU and the 10th Congress of the BCP show once more that questions like the development of socialist democracy, the strengthening of the unity of the classes and social groups in socialist society with the working class playing the leading role constantly hold the attention of the Communists in the socialist countries.

p Our two Congresses have demonstrated the great significance that now attaches to the creative development of Marxist-Leninist theory, the communist education of the working people and an uncompromising struggle against the ideology and morality of the old world.

p In the struggle of ideas our positions are stronger than ever before. On our side is the truth of the real achievements of socialism. We have a most powerful weapon—the teaching of Marxism-Leninism, which helps us to find sure answers to the new problems posed by life. The strength of our ideas lies in the fact that they are being corroborated by the entire course of social development, which, step by step, leads the whole of mankind to socialism. (Applause.)

p Our adversaries are conscious of this and use every means in an effort to discredit our ideals. They would have liked 458 to sow doubt in the historic righteousness of the great cause that we Communists champion. That is why the offensive against bourgeois ideology, the struggle against all sorts of opportunist, revisionist and nationalistic trends has been and remains one of our most urgent tasks. (Applause.)

p Comrades, in 1920 Lenin said that when socialism triumphs in a number of foremost countries, these countries would exercise "a decisive influence upon world politics as a whole".  [458•1  All of us now see that matters are moving precisely in that direction. Already now the socialist countries have become a force that exercises a powerful influence on the whole of world development. The socialist system’s influence today penetrates all spheres of international life, all corners of our planet. Our countries’ achievements in the building of socialism and communism inspire millions upon millions of people in the former colonies and dependent countries to build a new life. They inspire the working people in the capitalist countries to fight for the overthrow of the power of the exploiters. The oppressed peoples regard the socialist countries as their mainstay and hope, as the bulwark of peace and justice. (Prolonged applause.)

p The steadily growing might of the socialist states and their alliance with the revolutionary, liberation and anti- imperialist forces throughout the world are today the decisive factor in the struggle to deliver mankind from the menace of a world missile-nuclear war. Where the imperialists have recourse to arms in order to suppress the liberation struggle they encounter an increasingly firmer and more resolute rebuff. Their own experience is showing them the meaning of the international solidarity of the revolutionary forces and the effectiveness of the support which the socialist countries are rendering to the fighters against imperialist aggression. This is demonstrated most eloquently by the successful struggle of the patriots of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia against the US aggressors and by the failure of the imperialist plans for the overthrow of the progressive regimes in Arab countries.

p Considerable successes have been scored by the countries of the socialist community in their persevering and consistent struggle for lasting peace, security and mutually 459 beneficial cooperation between the peoples of Europe, although much still remains to be done in this sphere.

p In short, comrades, the role played by the socialist countries in the modern world is exceptionally great and noble. Similarly great is our internationalist responsibility as Communists to our class brothers, to the working people of the whole world. We are well aware that the firmer the unity of the socialist countries and the more their actions on the world scene are in harmony and coordinated the more successfully will they carry out their historic mission. ( Prolonged applause.)

p We highly value the substantial contribution of the Bulgarian Communists towards the consolidation of the socialist community. In the promotion of socialist economic integration, in the defence of socialist gains in the international arena and in the working out of measures to achieve a further strengthening of the Warsaw Treaty the Bulgarian Communist Party has always acted and acts in line with consistent socialist internationalism. For this we, its friends and allies, pay it the tribute of our profound esteem. (Stormy, prolonged applause.)

p With a sense of great satisfaction we can, from this rostrum, tell our peoples and the whole world that the Soviet Union and Bulgaria, like the other fraternal socialist countries, who are allies under the Warsaw Treaty, are united in their determination actively and consistently to pursue the Leninist policy of upholding the cause of peace and freedom of peoples. (Stormy, prolonged applause.) Nobody can ever break our unity. (Stormy, prolonged applause. All rise. Everybody in the hall chants: "The CPSU and the BCP”, "Friendship Forever!”) One of the concrete expressions of this unity is the community of foreign political programmes of our Parties, set forth at the 24th Congress of the CPSU and here, at the Congress of the Bulgarian Communists.

p We are for peace, international cooperation and the freedom and independence of all peoples. (Applause.) The working people of all countries appreciate and understand our aims and give them their warm approval. (Applause.) On our side is the invincible strength of the laws of historical development. We, therefore, firmly know that whatever difficulties and surprises may still be harboured by the development of the international situation, the just cause of 460 the Communists of Bulgaria, the Soviet Union and other socialist countries will triumph for the benefit of all mankind. (Prolonged applause.}

p Comrades, in conclusion I should like once more to wish you and all the working people of your republic great successes in work and to wish socialist Bulgaria happiness and prosperity. We are linked by relations of genuine friendship and brotherhood. We are convinced that the work and decisions of the 10th Congress of the Bulgarian Communist Party will be a further contribution to the strengthening of our fraternal relations and to the consolidation of the militant alliance of the socialist countries. (Prolonged applause.}

p Long live the Bulgarian Communist Party, organiser and inspirer of socialist construction on Bulgarian soil! (Stormy, prolonged applause. All rise and chant: "BCP!”)

p May the fraternal friendship between the Soviet and Bulgarian peoples and their unbreakable alliance live long and flourish! (Stormy applause. Cheers ring out in the hall.)

p May the world socialist system, mainstay of peace, democracy and progress, develop and grow stronger! (Stormy, prolonged applause.)

p Long live the unity of the present-day revolutionary forces and their vanguard, the world communist movement! (Stormy, prolonged applause.)

p May the immortal ideas of Marx, Engels and Lenin live long and triumph! (Stormy, prolonged applause that grows into an ovation. Cheers ring out in the hall. ’The delegates and guests chant: "The CPSU and the BCP!”)

To the accompaniment of warm applause Comrade L. I. Brezhnev hands the Presidium a message of greetings from the Central Committee of the CPSU to the 10th Congress of the Bulgarian Communist Party.