14.03.2018, Moscow.
Foreign NGOs are destroying the memory about Russia’s role in the liberation of Bulgaria and in the victory over Nazism in the World War Two through the introduction of educational programs for students in Bulgarian schools, member of the Civic Chamber of (CC) the Russian Federation Ivan Abazher said on March 12, according to a staff correspondent of the Rossa Primavera Information Agency.
At a CC roundtable discussion On the outcomes of monitoring the condition of Soviet soldiers’ memorials and graves in Moscow region Abazher said that in early March he attended the celebration of the 140th anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman domination as a result of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878. According to the CC member, at the Bulgarian events it was stated that Russia and Bulgaria belong to one civilizational field, and that the longer Bulgaria stays outside this field, the more it destroys itself.
The CC member emphasized that in Bulgaria, educational programs are being established, which ignore the role of the USSR in the victory in the World War Two. This field is dominated by foreign funds, which promote Russophobic attitudes among Bulgarians; the most active ones are George Soros’ Open Society and America for Bulgaria Foundation. Subsidies to promote Russophobia in Bulgaria, which are provided by Ottoman foundations’ linked to the Ottoman Brotherhood, are also significant.
According to Abazher, acts of vandalism against memorials related to the great deeds of Soviet soldiers are directly organized by foreign non-governmental organizations from across Europe. The Bulgarian people strongly condemn these Russophobic acts, and they demand a timely and adequate reaction (to such acts) from the authorities.
Abazher stressed that he mentioned Bulgaria’s example not only because this country has the greatest number of monuments and memorials to Russia’s contribution to Bulgaria’s independence, but also because it is an obvious reason to develop a new policy and a new media space to counter any attempts to erase the memory of the great deeds of the Soviet people in the period of the World War Two, and Russia’s contribution to world history and culture as a whole.
The Alyosha monument to the Soviet liberator soldier in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv was vandalized at least 3 times in 2017 alone. An example of Bulgarian people’s countering the official authorities’ statements and attempts to erase the historical memory is the opening of a memorial complex to Soviet pilots in the Bulgarian city of Byala Slatina on May 8, 2016. However, on March 1, 2016 the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov referred to the Bulgarians’ liberation from the fascists in 1944 as a Soviet occupation.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
