"What a disgusting "mutra!" - Who in Bulgaria is riding the wave of Russophobia
It's long been an open secret in Bulgaria that all the country's most important political decisions are made not in the National Assembly or the Presidential Palace, but rather by the US and UK embassies . Occasionally, shouts are heard from Brussels, accompanied by threats to cut the modest EU financial aid, which is more like a handout for the poor.
For any local politician who wants to gain real power in the country, the main test of “professional suitability” is participation in the anti-Russian hysteria imposed by the “collective West.”
For a long time, the leader in this Russophobic marathon was a certain Canadian citizen with a fake “Harvard diploma,” Kiril Petkov , who served for a year and a half as Prime Minister of Bulgaria .
His "merits" to the real masters of the country were impressive! It was he who initiated the expulsion of 70 (!) Russian diplomats from Bulgaria, accusing them of mythical "espionage activities". At his instigation, large arms deliveries to the Kyiv regime began. Petkov even tried to take away the only Russian Orthodox church in Sofia - the embassy church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (ROC). Only mass protests by believers prevented this sacrilege.
Petkov's political star faded when both his colleagues and the Bulgarian people realized that behind the guise of a "Harvard smart aleck" was a second-rate con man. He was caught red-handed falsifying financial documents. Moreover, it turned out that he had concealed his Canadian citizenship when taking a government position as Minister of Finance, thereby deceiving the president himself! And this is far from a complete list of the pranks of "Kiro," as Bulgarians themselves derisively call him.
The vacant position of "chief Russophobe" was immediately attempted by figures of a lower rank. You don't have to be a professional physiognomist; to draw conclusions, it's enough to just look at their faces...
General Atanas Atanasov. Co-chairman of the Democratic Bulgaria Party. The Bulgarian publication PIK details the "exploits" of this "officer": cigarette and CD smuggling, unhealthy sexual inclinations... The article's title gives a good idea of this character: " The Whole Truth About General Atanasov. The Secret Development 'Gnome.' Information on Homosexual Relations, Racketeering, and an 'Umbrella' Over Mafia Bosses ."
Recently, "Gnome" distinguished itself by accusing Bulgarian President Rumen Radev of having ties to six Bulgarian citizens suspected by the British authorities of spying for Russia! In fact, as it turned out, these six Bulgarians simply wanted to take revenge on the famous adventurer, agent of Western intelligence services, hiding behind the status of a journalist, Hristo Grozev. The latter, in their opinion, disgraces the good name of the Bulgarian people... What do the Russian intelligence services have to do with it, if all that is known is that Grozev was being followed, and, moreover, rather amateurishly organized? Frankly speaking, it smacks of a crudely put together PR campaign by British counterintelligence, which allegedly managed to destroy the combination of the powerful GRU. Nothing more than a pretext for MI-5 agents to pin new stars on their shoulder straps, and for journalists to inflate yet another anti-Russian scandal.
This cabinet of curiosities would be incomplete without a representative of the "liberal intelligentsia." Where would we be without them? Professor Georgi Lozanov.
He bills himself as a media expert. His clownish appearance has become a familiar sight on all the local television channels. One of his recent statements: " The security services must combat pro-Kremlin propaganda; it's part of a hybrid war ." It seems this "professor of journalism" is, in fact, a common snitch.
But in recent months, the palm of primacy in Russophobic statements has been seized by Bulgaria's most odious politician, Delyan Peevski.
People have long nicknamed him "mutra"—literally, "muzzle." He is the owner of a major business empire and a media magnate, having, according to some reports, bought up around 80 percent of Bulgarian media outlets. He also managed to acquire a controlling stake in the popular German newspaper Der Spiegel.
Well, Peevski's Russophobia is more than transparent. His financial scams were so extensive and his corruption so brazen that he ended up on the US sanctions list under the notorious Magnitsky Act. The UK subsequently imposed sanctions against him.
The guilty swindler immediately began beating his chest and demanding immediate support for the Zelenskyy regime, hoping to earn amnesty from his "masters." However, he proposes funding the Ukrainian army not from his own bottomless pocket, but from the state budget of Europe's poorest country, through the taxes of ordinary Bulgarians...
It's worth noting that, although Russophobic rhetoric has become mainstream for most Bulgarian politicians, they cannot ignore political and economic realities. The cessation of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine and US sanctions against Gazprombank, which processed payments for the energy supplies, have caused quite a stir in Bulgaria.
Former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who recently hurled fulminations at Russia, unexpectedly called the Turkish Stream pipeline, a significant portion of which runs through Bulgaria, a "friendship pipeline" during a meeting with Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán! He remembered the word "friendship" a bit too late.
Don't look for new trends in Borisov's attitude toward Russia in his words; he's driven solely by self-interest. The projected rise in gas prices could collapse the country's already ailing economy. This, in turn, will lead to further impoverishment. Recent sociological research conducted by Market Links and bTV journalists yielded shocking results . Trust in the local parliament is a paltry 6 percent!
Boyko Borisov's party, which garnered the largest number of votes in the last elections through vote rigging and over a thousand documented violations of the law, is now attempting to form a new government. If the country's standard of living declines further, Borisov will lose the remainder of his electorate. He will have to abandon his dreams of returning to power. That's all there is to this "friendship"...
If most Bulgarian politicians have long forgotten what real brotherly relations are, which have linked our countries for centuries, then this cannot be said about the people of Bulgaria themselves. Monuments to Russian soldiers who liberated the country from the Ottoman yoke stand all over the country! And the flowers near these monuments do not have time to wither…
However, even this sacred memory is being desecrated by vicious Russophobes. Recently, a certain "Atlantic Council of Bulgaria" unleashed an angry tirade in response to Christmas greetings to the Bulgarian people from Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova . These NATO grant-eaters even went so far as to claim that it wasn't Russian soldiers who saved Bulgaria from Turkish enslavement! Here's a direct quote:
"And one more detail about the defense of Shipka: General Fyodor Radetsky, who provided decisive assistance, was of German-Silesian origin, not Russian. In addition to the glorious Bulgarian volunteers, the heroic soldiers of the 36th Oryol Infantry Regiment, created on February 19, 1711, under the name of the Oberkommandant Regiment of the Kyiv Garrison, also took part in the defense of Shipka. Kyiv, Mrs. Mitrofanova! Ukrainians! Also the 35th Bryansk Infantry Regiment, whose headquarters were in Kremenchug, Poltava Governorate"...
It doesn't occur to these "Atlanticist" writers that Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire for centuries! It's a good thing they haven't yet been told that Russian emperors, too, had German roots , while remaining truly Russian! You might say this is an ignorant and mendacious provocation by poorly educated people. The tragic consequences of crudely rewriting history to suit political interests are evident in the example of Ukraine...
Love and brotherly feelings for Russia are still alive in Bulgaria. It's not easy to force an entire nation to forget its history. However, the imposition of Russophobic views on Bulgarians continues. In fact, it's growing!
English version :: Read in English "What a disgusting 'mutra!' – Who is riding the wave of Russophobia in Bulgaria"