site.btaPresident Radev: "Barbaric Destruction of Monuments Attempts to Erase History, Exacerbates Confrontation"

"The barbaric destruction of monuments is not only an attempt to erase history but also exacerbates social confrontation. For the destruction of one monument inevitably leads to the rejection of another monument," Bulgarian President Rumen Radev told journalists on Wednesday evening, reacting to the dismantling of the Soviet Army Monument in central Sofia.

In his words, whoever lacks a solution to the present and a vision for the future is waging war on the past.

"An aggressive onslaught against statehood, history and memory is underway at this point. Destructive processes are unfolding, fomenting division and intolerance in society," the head of State argued.

"And those who encroached on the symbols of statehood, the national day, the Bulgarian flag, and who are preparing to hijack the Constitution, too, are today cutting our history piece by piece. Profound public indignation is brewing, and it will inevitably have political ramifications," Radev said. "Make no mistake: Bulgarians will not be indifferent bystanders while our history is being encroached upon, and this encroachment is actually on our future as a nation," the President added.

Earlier in the day, supporters of Vazrazhdane, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), The Left and Rise Up BG. Police presence in the area was increased.

Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov commented that the dismantling of the monument triggers an ever more serious deterioration of relations with Russia which, under the circumstances, could denounce the bilateral Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. Kostadinov urged the President to call a referendum on the dismantling of the monument because the Sofia Municipal Council, whose work is blocked by the failure to elect its chairperson, is unable to call a local referendum.  

"What is being cut today can be refitted back tomorrow," the Vazrazhdane leader said, adding that if his party governs Bulgaria this monument will be restored, just as all other monuments.

Kostadinov asked why "nobody is raising the issue about a very serious anti-Bulgarian monument: the one honouring American war criminals who killed more than 4,000 women and children". He was apparently referring to a monument to US Air Force pilots killed during Allied air raids on Sofia during WW II. 

"We back Bulgaria's history, we want the preservation of all monuments that are part of our history, we support the anti-fascist struggle in its past dimensions but also in its present dimensions," BSP leader Korneliya Ninova told journalists. She called for the preservation of all monuments in Bulgaria regardless of their subject "because this is a small part of Bulgaria".