site.btaOver 30,000 Taurian Bulgarians Live Under Temporary Russian Occupation, Rights Restricted, Says Foreign Minister

Since the full-scale Russian military aggression against Ukraine began, more than 30,000 Bulgarians, mainly from the Zaporizhzhia region, known as the Taurian Bulgarians, have been living under temporary Russian occupation, wrote Monday Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev in a reply to MPs of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB). 

MPs of CC-DB condemned Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova’s recent statements, in which she launched harsh attacks against Bulgarian MPs, media, including the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), and Bulgaria as a whole.

The reason for this anti-Bulgarian outburst from the Russian capital, which has declared Bulgaria an unfriendly state, are reports aired by BNT in late April and early May highlighting Russian propaganda in Bulgarian schools and parliamentary questions from Bulgarian MPs.

According to Georgiev, Taurian Bulgarians’ fundamental rights are systematically restricted, including the right to study the Bulgarian language. He noted that Bulgarian language education is banned in state schools within the occupied territories, and Bulgarian Sunday schools in Melitopol and Berdyansk, funded by Bulgaria, have been forced to cease in-person classes. Under pressure from the occupiers, the renovated Bulgarian-Ukrainian lyceum in Prymorsk, once a leading institution teaching Bulgarian, has been closed.

Bulgaria firmly rejects any distortion of facts by Zakharova and dismisses attempts to portray legitimate Bulgarian actions as “witch hunts” or violations of citizens’ rights, Georgiev said. Such manipulation aims to discredit efforts to protect Bulgaria’s sovereignty from direct interference in its internal affairs, he added.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounces political exploitation of events intended to divide Bulgarian society and warns against labeling counter-propaganda measures as “Russophobia,” which distorts the reality of documented hybrid attacks on Bulgarian democratic institutions.

Georgiev reaffirmed Bulgaria’s consistent stance, well known to partners, allies, and the international community, including Russia, which has unilaterally declared Bulgaria an unfriendly state. ”Bulgaria remains committed to defending EU principles - democracy, rule of law, and media freedom - against hybrid threats and strictly follows the unified EU approach toward Russia’s illegal, unprovoked aggression against Ukraine,” Georgiev further noted.

The Minister also stressed that Russia uses all available means, including education and culture, for political propaganda and hybrid warfare against so-called “unfriendly states.”

According to the Ministry of Education and Science and recent media investigations, certain student competitions and initiatives have been exploited to advance Russian geopolitical interests. Cooperation between Bulgarian schools and pro-Russian organizations has involved unacceptable practices of hostile propaganda and disinformation, contradicting Bulgaria’s national interests to curb harmful foreign influence, Georgiev concluded.