„I will weigh everything I heard today and I will come out with an official position in the next days&rdquo ;. This was said by the Mayor of Sofia, Vasil Terziev, quoted by BTA, after the end of his hearing during an extraordinary joint meeting of the Commission for Culture and the Commission for Architecture in the Sofia Municipal Council (SOS). It was dedicated to the termination of the procedure for the restoration of the Memorial of the First and Sixth Infantry Regiments in the NDK area.
Terziev indicated that he will consider each of the possible options for the realization of the monument.
„I want to spend a few days to draw the road, guided by the idea that I want a monument to be there”, added the mayor, who will make a decision in the coming days.
In Terziev's words, it is important for people to think about why projects given for so many years are not implemented. “There is a reason why they are not happening,” said the capital's mayor. According to him, the rulers should not find more reasons to divide, but to look for a way through which the monument can be realized.
Terziev believes that after over three hours of discussion, they ended up where they started. “Everyone unites around the need to have a monument to honor the memory of those who died, but opinions on how to implement it are different,” the mayor pointed out.
„The questions that were asked in the hall are three”, Terziev pointed out. “The first is whether the place should be there, but the monument should be different. The second is whether the monument should be in the most original form possible, but elsewhere and the third option is to continue with the commission's decision.
According to Terziev, the way in which the implementation of the project started would have led to another time in which it will not happen, despite the wishes of a huge part of the public. According to the mayor, one of the reasons for this is that several of the most important class organizations are isolated. We are trying to speed up a process that still needs time, Terziev added.
In “Facebook“ GERB mayor Anton Hekimyan wrote that Terziev had the chance to become a hero, but turned into a traitor to the memory of the fallen ancestors who defended Bulgaria.
„Terziev said he will continue to listen – whatever that means. There is no problem with the documentation and the conduct of the competition! But one thing is clear – There won't be a monument to the First and Sixth Regiments in the same place, there won't be!”, wrote Hekimyan.
He adds that he and other municipal councilors submitted a report with a proposal to cancel Terziev's decision as illegal and the mayor's obligation to fulfill the decision of the SOS and restore the Soldier's Monument.
A few days ago, Terziev stopped the competition for the restoration of the monument, which is located in the place where the "1300 years of Bulgaria" monument was until 2017. Terziev intends to hold a new competition and include in it "respected urban planners, architects, artists, sculptors, historians, sociologists, professional organizations, citizens' associations".