We cleaned up the Brothers' Mound ourselves today, after Mayor Terziev and the responsible institutions turned a deaf ear and turned a blind eye to the fascist demonstrations on the monument in Borisova Garden. This was stated by Ivan Takov, Chairman of the BSP - Sofia City Council and Deputy Chairman of the BSP, after he joined in cleaning up the desecrated monument-ossuary. With him were Atanas Atanasov, a member of parliament from the BSP - UNITED LEFT Coalition group, elected from Sofia, and the chairmen of the Bulgarian Anti-Fascist Union (BAS) Evgeniy Beliy and of the Youth Union in the BSP - Sofia Martin Velev. The graffiti was removed with a sandblaster, and members of the Youth Union in the BSP - Sofia cleaned the red paint with which the figures in the composition were desecrated. The young socialists also removed the weeds that had grown between the tiles in the space around the monument.
"Less than 3 weeks ago we called on the mayor to take quick and adequate action to clean up the once again desecrated Bratska Mogila. We also set a deadline - until September 1. He remained deaf and blind to the fascist outrages in the center of Sofia, commented Ivan Takov. - That's why we decided today, the day before the festive September 9th, to finish the work of the Sofia Municipality and clean the monument and the space around it".
The Deputy Chairman of the BSP noted that the fight against neo-Nazism is a matter of long-term policy. "We will do everything possible to make it successful. We already have concrete ideas and an action plan in this direction, which we will present very soon, he said. - Once again, I will note that the increasingly frequent fascist manifestations are the result of the 35-year-old cave anti-communism, in the name of which many practices and symbols of Nazism and Fascism were rehabilitated and normalized. Neoliberal economic policy has led to severe fractures and inequalities in Bulgarian society and marginalizes large social groups. However, these systemic factors for neo-Nazi outrages cannot be an excuse for the inaction of the authorities.
Ivan Takov was categorical that the group of the Local Coalition "BSP for Bulgaria" in the SOS, of which he is the chairman, will do everything necessary to repair the obelisk, the figures and the pedestal, as well as the adjacent parts around them. "Our other very important and urgent goal is to install lighting on the Brothers' Mound and video surveillance cameras that are connected to the police, so that law enforcement agencies can quickly and adequately prevent any further attempts at vandalism and apprehend the perpetrators", he said.
People's Representative Atanas Atanasov noted that this desecration of the Brothers' Mound is not just vandalism. "This is hate speech, aimed not only at individual communities, but at all Bulgarian citizens and at the memory of those who put an end to the most dark ideology - fascism, with their lives, he said. - Bulgaria gave thousands of victims in World War II, hundreds of anti-fascists died so that we can live free today. Fascism is a crime. Those who are scribbling swastikas and writing slogans today want to change history, erase memory and impose a new division in society. But they will not succeed, we will not allow it. These are not patriots - these are enemies of Bulgarian history. It is our duty to be uncompromising towards attempts to rehabilitate fascism. Therefore, we are categorically determined to take the necessary measures to prevent such vandalism of memory from happening again. We are aware that this is a process, but we know where and how to start working in this direction.
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The BSP - Sofia City Council will mark the festive September 9th tomorrow with the laying of wreaths and flowers at the Bratska Mogila at 2:30 p.m. The event will be attended by Ivan Takov, Chairman of the BSP - Sofia and Deputy Chairman of the BSP, members of the BSP Executive Bureau, the Executive Bureau of the BSP City Council, MPs from the group of the Coalition "BSP - UNITED LEFT" and municipal councilors from the group of the Local Coalition "BSP for Bulgaria" in the SOS, as well as Evgeniy Beliy, Chairman of the Bulgarian Anti-Fascist Union, and members of the BAS.
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The official celebration of September 9, organized by the City Council of the BSP - Sofia and the Bulgarian Anti-Fascist Union, will be tomorrow at 6:00 PM in front of the Monument to the Soviet Army in the Prince's Garden.