/ world today news/ Their love for Bulgaria passes through hysterical hatred towards Russia, communism and servility towards the West. If they do not hate and servile, there is no love
On November 22, 1999, something interesting happened in recent Bulgarian history. The square in front of the temple-monument “Alexander Nevsky” is full of people with unfurled national flags. The president, prime minister, mayor are there, and “Dear country” sounds from a high podium. They are words that can be used to discuss a nation in the most heroic way – for its courage, dedication, virtues, will and ability to build a bright future. It is 10 years since the fall of communism, and this very day, November 22, is the most patriotic possible since the start of the transition – both in terms of the state ceremony and because of the inspired crowd that complements it. To the euphoric square poured the phrase “Oh, foolish and foolish, why are you ashamed to call yourself Bulgarian”, which for the first time was applauded by so many people in a crowd.
However, there is one peculiarity. The phrase was uttered by US President Bill Clinton, and the tricolor extravaganza was complete with American flags. The master of the White House is on a historic visit to our country, the authorities and citizens of Bulgaria are euphorically welcoming him. Clinton is here to consolidate – after the bombing of Yugoslavia – Western penetration into the heart of the Balkans. He wants a strong Atlantic-oriented Bulgaria, and she does not mind being one. Bulgarian President Stoyanov speaks from the podium about “humiliating communism”, Clinton recalls the “police state”, the ghost of the USSR is awakened. Thus, the entire patriotic vision of the “prosperous Bulgarian people” is built on the corpse of communism. The multitude warmly embraces the “awakening” speakers – it is not ashamed to call itself Bulgarian if its future lacks the communists, the USSR, the Iron Curtain and other attributes of the recent past.
These forgotten scenes are important because they show the “ideological” root of Bulgarian patriotism, demonstrated by some politicians and part of the “civil society” in the time after November 10. They are patriots only when respect for national values is subordinated to a showdown with the communist past. It is even better if this “patriotism” is combined with attacks on Russia (on the resurrected USSR), and best of all – if the Bulgarian flag flies alongside the American one. If these conditions are absent, they simply cease to be patriots. A monument to a Bulgarian king in the center of Sofia? Oh no, enough with this nationalism, how long are we going to build pompous state symbols, they say. A monument to an American president? Oh yes, that’s great, he (Reagan) is a great statesman, helped free us from communism, they say. Such is the doctrine of their patriotism.
In the last few weeks, we have had the opportunity to see for ourselves that this type of “patriotism” is running with terrible force. It is demonstrated by the state power, and also by the so-called “civil society”. It is understandable. GERB, the right-wing successor of the SDS, which arranged the famous reception for Clinton, is in charge. The most vocal among the “society” are their associated right-wing apologists, along with liberal intellectuals and Facebook activists – receivers of that crowd in the square, whose peak in patriotism was to wave the Bulgarian flag alongside the American one.
The first example is the restored lion from the soldiers’ memorial complex in front of the NDK. Erected 83 years after its creation, it hardly fits into the radically changed urban environment. Contradictions of architectural principles. On top of everything, the lion is complemented with a map of the old Bulgarian ethnic land. The right-liberal settlement did not object aesthetically, as it violently did to the Samuel monument, nor did it object to the nationalist map, although it has blasted nationalism a thousand times on other occasions. On the contrary, a part of him made long-term efforts to restore the lion. But why do these people insist so much on an aesthetically controversial monument steeped in nationalism? Why do they have no objections? It’s simple – because it replaces the old “1300 years Bulgaria”, built during communism and became one of its sad architectural symbols. The irony is that Starchev’s monument is also nationalistic, and right-wing liberals who swear by “Borderless World”, “United Europe” and other trappings of global modernity have replaced it with an even more nationalistic one. But they experience what happened as a triumph, because for them every victory over communism is the pinnacle of patriotism and civilizational development. Ask for Ludmila Zhivkova’s bells to be restored – they contained patriotism, a message of peace, and a sense of an open world, that is, everything that is valuable today. The right-wing liberals will be against it. The bells would have had a chance if Boris III had invented them.
The second example came after the visit to Serbia of the now former Speaker of the Parliament Dimitar Glavchev (GERB). One October morning came the news that he had asked Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to rename Dimitrovgrad and return the old name Tsaribrod. Then came the clarification that Glavchev did not present such a request, he simply informed Vucic what our compatriots in the Western suburbs wanted; he did it because Vucic was very interested. Whether the Bulgarians in Serbia really want the old name back, after a referendum was held a few years ago that confirmed the name Dimitrovgrad, is another topic. The important thing in this case is that as soon as a parliamentary speaker says something similar to a president, it cannot be taken as an official position. The BSP protested, and the Anti-Fascist Union jumped in as well. VMRO, a participant in the governing coalition, accused them of “national betrayal”. The familiar right-liberal voices were also heard saying that patriotism requires supporting the name Tsaribrod. What is interesting in the whole situation is not so much the fact that it is ridiculous to talk about renaming Dimitrovgrad when a settlement in your own country is called the same way. The curious thing is different. And this mild provocation towards Belgrade, and others like it recently, happened in a new period of successful American invasion of the Balkans. Its fruit is the sharp warming of Bulgarian-Macedonian relations. The positions of NATO Bulgaria in Skopje, after the intervention of Prime Minister Zaev, have visibly increased. Serbia is losing, hence Russia, whose wildcard in the Balkans is Belgrade. Georgi Dimitrov is a communist, Bulgarian, but also a Soviet figure; the naming of the city decades ago was done in honor of international friendship; the return of the name Tsaribrod would be a sign of a successful breakthrough of NATO Bulgaria and Serbia – for this reason, the sudden patriotic concern of the right-wing liberals for our compatriots in the Western outskirts erupted; Glavchev’s “unintentional” request was also in this connection. When the US under Clinton bombed Yugoslavia, they weren’t that concerned about them. Nor do they sympathize with the Bessarabian Bulgarians today. How will they sympathize, aren’t they Russophiles, that is, not subject to love and empathy!?
The third example came after Kremlin spokesperson Maria Zakharova spoke about the Red Army and the rescue of Bulgarian Jews. The liberals showed up. After some of them did not admit at all that Bulgaria had saved its Jews, referring to the deportation to Macedonia, they suddenly found themselves very hurt by Zakharova’s words. The circle closed after the old Soviet monuments in our country were smeared with anti-Semitic inscriptions. The newly minted patriots again found the correct interpretation – the Russophiles themselves smeared them, Bulgaria is in danger.
It is not by chance that “right-wing liberals” were mentioned several times in this text. The term is not in the textbooks. But this is a very real breed of “political animal” inhabiting Bulgaria. It changes its fur, its temper, but three hysterical benchmarks always live in its worldview – “Down with Russia”, “Down with communism”, “Long live the USA and the West”. They are the air he breathes, the water he drinks, the love that wings him, the hate that eats him. They turn it into a single organism. All other concepts and states are irrelevant to the right-liberal animal. Patriotism for him is a conjuncture – it may be there, it may not be there, it depends on his phobias and affiliations. For these reasons, right-wing liberals are constantly at war with the time of Ottoman rule – it is a real horror for them to discuss it as “slavery”; constantly looking for “evidence” of evils caused by Czarist Russia. They don’t do it out of a drive for truth or science. They do it because it is an existential catastrophe for them to admit that Russia freed Bulgaria from slavery.
If anyone is wondering if we have a specific right-liberal political entity, then the answer is yes. What else, if not this, is the recently emerged union between DSB, “Yes, Bulgaria”, “The Greens” and DEOS. Even with them is the BZNS (Nikolai Nenchev). The first thing this right-liberal entity did was to demonstrate its “patriotism”. And what kind! They made a declaration entitled “Bulgarian Manifesto for Europe”, and the first sentences in it are: “The path of modern Bulgaria to Europe begins with the Renaissance. It is not a “project”, but a struggle of generations of Bulgarian awakeners and educators, revolutionaries and statesmen. Today, for more than ten years, European membership is a reality”. Towards the end we read: “But with the self-confidence of Bulgarian patriots, we will discuss with our fellow citizens and… how to protect the interests of the most affected countries in the future energy union and to prevent the strongest European economies from imposing a double standard in relations with Russia”. Have they misunderstood? The revival aimed at European membership and was based on today’s energy problems with Russia.
Autumn brought another piece of news. The Metropolitan City Council decided to place a modern art installation called the Bronze House in the center of Sofia. It was a gift from Austria and symbolized the European Presidency. It will be placed in a symbolic place on the site of the former mausoleum – down Dimitrov, long live the EU! The installation was submitted as a proposal to the Metropolitan Municipal Council by GERB and the Reform Bloc. This is the same right-liberal coalition that organized the placement of the lion in front of the National Palace of Culture. There is no surprise – today they admire modern (“cosmopolitan”) art, yesterday – old-fashioned (“national”), tomorrow they may rediscover the god Tangra – the important thing is that communism and Russia be fought!
All this is as old as the world. Some barbarians come, wipe out other barbarians, build their own in place of the old sanctuaries. Not elsewhere, but right on top of the old ones.
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