„What censorship - when it comes to the Bulgarian identity, spirit and history? And which censorship – the one that is conveniently used as a pretext now, but is actually brutally enforced every day for the convenience of the authorities and those who are now whining and hypocrites. Have you heard a similar performance being played in the center of Belgrade, on the Serbian national stage?“.
This was stated in his position on his profile on social networks, the People's Representative from “BSP for Bulgaria” in the 50th parliament, Ivan Chenchev, who already at the beginning of June publicly demanded the play “Weapons and the man“ according to Bernard Shaw to be removed from the autumn program of the National Theatre.
„I warned. I insisted. On June 3, I submitted an official letter to the Ministry of Culture as a representative of the "BSP for Bulgaria", a member of the Culture and Media Committee of the 49th Parliament and as a citizen. With a copy also to the director of the National Theater Vasil Vassilev. And I called: Remove from the program of the National Theater the anti-Bulgarian play based on Bernard Shaw's production "The Weapons and the Man". - it is inadmissible on the Bulgarian stage to trample on the feat of the Bulgarian army. I appealed to the Minister of Culture to take immediate action and stop the play, which "humiliates the Bulgarian nation, gave the world the alphabet and writing and achieved a strong spiritual flourishing during the Renaissance" and “cynically treads on the feat of the Bulgarian army during the Bulgarian-Serbian war of 1885,", Chenchev emphasized.
„In a conversation, Minister Nayden Todorov assured me that he would take action. But the offensive performance remained. And it caused fair reactions. I do not approve of the invasion of a national theatrical shrine in this way. But I will never accept insulting Bulgaria on the stage of this national shrine. Not to get away with the convenient thesis of censorship and look for justifications. To insult the national dignity and Bulgarian identity is not only national betrayal. This is a crime!“, the former chairman and long-time member of the Parliamentary Committee on Culture is emphatic.