After the detention of 18 people in Plovdiv, associated with the neo-Nazi organization "Blood and Honor", Boris Nakev, a former activist of the nationalist formation Bulgarian National Union (BNU), spoke to bTV.
The man had filed a report with the National Security Agency for insults and threats from the nationalists. According to him, 11 years later, no action has been taken.
“The topic of neo-Nazism in Bulgaria is currently topical and what happened opened up a memory and trauma from 2015“, shares Nakev.
“They obviously didn't take it seriously, but still, DANS is a structure with a huge budget to control extremist elements, and it had to react“, he points out.
bTV contacted BNS. They confirmed that they had an activist named Boris Nakev until 2010, when he left, and since then they have not been aware of his activities.
When asked by SANS what and how many signals against such movements were received, they replied that every signal for threats is checked.
SANS indicates that the agency “carries out independently and in cooperation with other Bulgarian structures, partner services and organizations a wide range of actions to collect intelligence information, analysis, surveillance, etc. to reveal these threats, as well as targeted actions to prevent and intercept them or take measures to mitigate them“.
Nakev explains that the BNS is engaged in cultural and educational activities.
“We have participated in political protests, propaganda materials, spraying sprays on walls, such activities. They are financed by high membership fees and donations from wealthy members and sympathizers,“ says Nakev.
“Regarding this organization “Blood and Honor“ - in 2009 they participated in an event of the Bulgarian National Union, at Lukovmarsh. In general, on an international scale, they are a large network of skinheads“, he adds.
The “Blood and Honor“ network came to Bulgaria in 2001 from Great Britain. It is banned in Germany, Spain and Russia.
“The organization “Blood and Honor“ is the ideological successor of the Third Reich and the fact that not only the race must be kept pure, but also biology and culture are intertwined“, commented Dr. Dimitar Atanasov, historian at IEFEM-BAS.
In his words, if we trace its roots historically, “we will reach the ideology of the Third Reich and certainly the 19th century and the boom of racial theories“.
“There is no doubt that the organization is far-right and has ideas with the superiority of the white race. Europe is a living space only for whites“, says Dr. Atanasov.
According to him, there is data in Bulgaria for more than 20 years about the existence of such gangs.
“It is precisely on these ideas that the Bulgarians who are part of this movement are based. That's why blood is such an essential component, and honor is what unites them - the preservation of conservative values,“ the historian points out.
According to bTV sources in the Ministry of Interior, most often supporters and participants in such far-right movements turn out to be football fans.
“The stadium in Bulgaria is the space where such recruitment can most easily take place. We are talking again about young people who are very conspiratorial, aggressive. A person who is now establishing himself as a personality can very easily be under someone's skin“, commented Dr. Evlogi Stanchev, a specialist in nationalisms, national identities and radicalisms.
In his words “Blood and Honor“ in its history represents structures that are not always interconnected.
„When we say that this is an organization, we run the risk of treating it as an easily recognizable structure“, points out Dr. Stanchev.
„„Blood and Honor“ is actually, in its most original form, a union of various National Socialist, skinhead individuals in Great Britain. Then it goes out from there and in almost every country there is this movement“, he also says.
According to Dr. Stanchev, this is a network that „parasites around a music, football subculture, skinhead subculture“.
„When we talk about this network „Blood and Honor“ in Bulgaria, we must be careful with the people themselves and the police must conduct an investigation - who these people are, what they do, are they connected to the horrific events in Plovdiv. Only then can we say what these “Blood and Honor“ are - is this something like a “interest club“, or is it a more serious organization“, he commented.
Dr. Atanasov points out that these movements are not harmless.
“These are not harmless movements of young people who harmlessly give each other T-shirts with crosses and circles. There is no desire to simply be part of a community. This is a not-so-harmless ideology. It spreads hatred“, he said.
“As of today, I believe that I made a big mistake that marked my life in a negative way“, says Boris Nakev.