Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has refused to hold a meeting with chess master and Russian MP Anatoly Karpov because of a comment Karpov made in a television broadcast when he said that the Cyrillic alphabet had come from Byzantium.

Recently, on May 24 – The Day of Slavic Scripture, which is also an official holiday in Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Cyrillic alphabet came to his country "from Macedonian lands." Prime Minister Borissov told the Russian ambassador to Sofia that such statements made on May 24th, which is one of the biggest holidays in Bulgaria, provoked sharp reactions among Bulgarian citizens. He recalled that the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet happened at the will and with the active participation of the Bulgarian state during the reign of Bulgarian ruler Boris-Mikhail.

PM Borissov also pointed out that the alphabet created in Bulgaria is used today by dozens of nations and millions of people worldwide, including those inhabiting the territory of the Russian Federation. The Bulgarian PM also recalled that this well-known fact was also pointed out by the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Cyril during his official visit to Bulgaria in 2012.