site.btaHere We Come Civic Association Stage Demonstration in Front of Russian Embassy in Sofia

Freedom is a universal right, but not in Russia, said the non-parliamentary civic association calling itself Here We Come, headed by popular protest activists Arman Babikyan and Nikolay Hadjigenov,  which organized a demonstration in front of the Russian Embassy in Sofia, where Russian citizens are voting in Russia's presidential election.

The association has set up a table with two ballot boxes - one for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the other for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Citizens can "symbolically vote" for one of the two. Not far away, Russian citizens queued up outside the Embassy to exercise their right to vote for Russia's president. 

There is an increased police presence in the area. 

"Our demonstration is related to the opportunity to be able to vote freely, because freedom is everyone's right, and apparently in Russia they have no such right," Nikolay Hadjigenov told journalists. "We insist on freedom as a human value and this is also connected with the issue of war and peace," he added. 

"There are several choices in Russia - for Putin, for Putin and for Putin again," Hadjigenov said. "To some extent, as is the case here in Bulgaria - you vote for democratic changes and you get Boyko and Delyan again," he noted, referring to GERB leader and former prime minister Boyko Borissov and Movement for Rights and Freedoms co-leader Delyan Peevski, the latter of which is also sanctioned under the global Magnitsky Act. 

Arman Babikyan told the media that the EU will not recognise the elections in Russia. 

Russian influence in this country is a fact, generations of Bulgarians have been victims of Russian propaganda since the Ottoman rule until the present day, Babikyan said. He added that this influence is heavily financed by Russia and "strikes the brains of Bulgarians". The bodies that are supposed to fight Russian propaganda in this country are part of it, he said, referring to state institutions such as the State Agency for National Security and the Interior Ministry. The Euro-Atlanticists in Bulgaria are the ones who helped Putin start this war, implemented his energy projects, implemented his policy in Bulgaria, Babikyan pointed out.