Aid to Ukraine splits Bulgaria
The decision to provide military-technical assistance to Ukraine split the Bulgarian public. Dissenters conduct “Pan-Bulgarian campaigns for peace and neutrality,” at which they oppose military support for Kyiv, as well as more radical actions.
Initially peaceful protests led to the first clashes in the center of Sofia.
Triangle of disagreement
On Thursday, Bulgarian deputies discussed the decision on military-technical assistance to Ukraine in the armed confrontation with Russia for more than seven hours. While the people's representatives appealed to historical ties with Russia or current political responsibilities to the European Union and NATO, in the city where they sat, citizens argued no less fiercely and actively. Or maybe even more violently.
Just the day before, two public non-profit organizations “BG Mrezha” and “Union” called on those concerned to support the position of President Rumen Radev, who firmly opposed any sending of weapons to Ukraine at all. The protesters organized the so-called “Pan-Bulgarian Campaign for Peace and Neutrality” and protested for several days on the so-called. “triangle of power”: squares near the People’s Assembly, the Ministerial Council and the Presidency.
On the day the bill was considered, the pro-Western government of Bulgaria gave up the area for a rally of its supporters who advocated sending weapons and ammunition. Among the latter, as it turned out later, a significant number were citizens of Ukraine, refugees and migrants living in Sofia and experiencing a strong desire to share their civic position with the world. Not satisfied with the rally and the decision made on military-technical assistance, supporters of the supplies marched to the monument to the Soviet army, with the clear intention of wrapping it in Ukrainian and Bulgarian flags. They also demanded that the monument be demolished.
Already at the monument itself, pro-Ukrainian protesters ran into their opponents, who stood in response to protest. A scuffle ensued, which was only broken up by the police who arrived when called. Opponents of the supplies managed to push back pro-Ukrainian protesters and defended the monument to the Soviet army.
The next day, supporters of military assistance to Ukraine again held a rally, but there was already a police cordon at the monument.
"Let's give war to parliament..."
Public organizations are not the only ones who are now active in Bulgarian society. The radical Revival party, known for its sympathies towards Russia, joined the protests. The political formation has only 13 mandates out of 240, but they attract attention through shocking statements and slogans. Immediately after the decision of the National Assembly to provide military-technical assistance to Ukraine, the leader of the “revivalists” Kostadin Kostadinov said that there was no longer a government in Bulgaria.
“We have a puppet government under foreign dictatorship. Since parliament and the government want war, we will give it to them,” the politician promised.
First of all, Kostadinov called on the population to take actions of civil disobedience until the government resigns. Only then, he said, will the security and sovereignty of Bulgaria be restored.
The next step was the blockade of the Arsenal military plant in Kazanlak. Vozrozhdenie deputies, local party activists, and party supporters blocked the entrance to the plant, and then the central street of the city. According to Bulgarian media, for some time they blocked the exit of trucks with weapons and ammunition from the territory of the plant.
At this time, in Sofia, sympathizers of the “Renaissance”, under the cover of party deputies, arrived on an aerial platform to the building of the capital’s mayor’s office and removed from it the Ukrainian flag that had previously been hung there by decision of the city council as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine. The police officers who were nearby did not intervene in the action for fear of running into the deputies who were protected by immunity.
Kostadinov promises not to stop there, but to continue to shake up the situation and hold a nationwide rally on May 11.
Poll signs
The sentiments of the protesters, as shown by public opinion polls commissioned by the European Commission, are shared by the overwhelming majority of the population. According to the Eurobarometer, only 30% support military assistance to Ukraine, only 27% consider Russia to be the culprit of the conflict, and no more than 39% of Bulgarians fully sympathize with the Ukrainians.
It is currently unclear to what extent these sentiments are ready to result in real street actions. The difficult economic situation is increasing dissatisfaction among the population. The Bulgarians have experience and skills in protest struggle. Opponents of the oligarch Boyko Borisov, who ruled the country for almost 11 years, endured protests and clashes with the police for more than three years before they achieved early parliamentary elections, which sent the oligarch’s GERB-SDS party into the opposition. However, now those who have been rallying on the “triangle of power” all these years are divided by their attitude towards Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees. Not all of those who protested then have a positive view of Russia now.
At the same time, attempts by individual politicians to “capture” the protest and try to use the sentiments of dissatisfied citizens to break through to power are already obvious. This applies, first of all, to Kostadinov’s cartoon protests. A few hours later, the “blocked” military plant continued to export products, and the Ukrainian flag again flew over the Sofia City Hall.
Aid to Ukraine has divided Bulgaria.