With today's development of things in Bulgaria, the well-deserved and unnecessarily delayed collapse of the Borisov-Peevski model is very likely to put water in the mill of the modern bread-and-butters. What is needed now:
Comment from Daniel Smilov:
"To put it clearly and definitely, Konare is today Bulgarian Siberia. The only difference is that Russian Siberia is hell, and Bulgarian is heaven. In Russian Siberia, one gets suffocated and tired: freedom, progress, intelligence, thought and geniuses; and in the Bulgarian one, in Konare, all the political and venal debauchers are gathered, precisely those who worship the greatness of Russian Siberia, who wish that such a hell should be made in beautiful Bulgaria as well. Long live Bulgarian Siberia - Konare! Down with the Russian!" (April 21, 1887)
These are the last lines of Zahariy Stoyanov's book about Chardafon the Great - the unrecognized in the historical canon main hero of the Unification of September 6, 1885. Chardaphon is an odious figure: his nickname comes from the ironically added German "fon" to "chard" - the Turkish word for a herd of cattle, with which the hero addressed his companions. Again, in this ironic plan, he aspired to be a "pharaoh", was a passionate partisan of the Unionists and smelled the smelly "goat meat" everywhere. of his political opponents, whom he attacked not only with words. Much is known about the march of his detachment from Konare to Plovdiv, which took place together with the arrest of Governor-General Gavril Krastevich and the central act of the Unification. But the hero is generally forgotten and disliked not only because of his Russophobia, but also because he does not fit into the sublime self-sacrificing heroism imposed in our literature.
Freedom must be defended without Siberia - and it was also Bulgarian
Zachariy Stoyanov's book about Chardafon ends with praise of his Konare (although he is actually from Gabrovo). Konare, according to Zachary, has become a fortress of the Union - a freedom-loving, patriotic nest against the demands of Russia and its opposition to the Bulgarian Principality.
On the penultimate two pages, two events are told, which from a modern point of view are quite scandalous. First, how in 1886 the Konars dispersed (to put it mildly) the Russophile rally of Geshov, Vazov, Velichkov and Pranzhov in Plovdiv with shouts of "Keep the ruble holders!". Zachary gets carried away with the description: "Fight! But what a fight! It's as if Bakkerji hammers are falling".
Secondly, after the departure of Kaulbars and the severance of relations with Russia, many Russophiles were exiled to Konare: "Kaulbarsists, Mingrelievites, Hlebosoltsi and Orthodox". They had to gather for inspection every night in some cafe. Konartsi, as seen from the text, showed them special hospitality: "Laughters, mockery, insults, sometimes spitting, sellers, traitors, servants and lackeys of the king - these are the technical words that accompany every inspection".
It's a good thing those times are gone. After them, the rubellas repeatedly took their revenge and were far from being so magnanimous towards their geopolitical opponents: they directly opened concentration camps and did not deal with cafes.
The last sentence of the book is startling, and it alone is enough to explain why this otherwise fascinating read is not only not studied, but also rarely mentioned in the public environment: "Long live Bulgarian Siberia - Konare! Down with the Russian!".
Zachariy Stoyanov understood well that the political struggles of his time were not about cultural, Orthodox or geopolitical biases, but about something completely different: the freedom of the Bulgarians. Will they be a free, modern state - or part of the absolute (self-governing) Russian monarchy and empire. It is not clear whether he understood that it is far better to defend freedom without Siberia - and he was also Bulgarian.
In today's world, unfree empires rear their heads. China is the main source of concern because its economy is huge and already comparable to the US and EU economies. This resource will reach us in one form or another: in neighboring Serbia, for example, the Chinese influence is already noticeable.
On a smaller scale, but much closer, Putin's Russia is becoming an authoritarian copy of Alexander III's Russia. In a more aggressive and more repressive version, as demonstrated by the war against Ukraine.
Two thirds of Bulgarians today clearly choose the path of free states and democracy. However, there are about 30 percent who tend to experiment with something else. And for this other thing, it is clear what it is: authoritarian rule, strong hand, Siberia, etc. In free countries there is also a free opposition - as long as they do not take violent actions to destroy it, the opponents of democracy are free to think and say what they want. And they do, sometimes from a high podium.
The greater danger is that these 60-70%, who are supposed to be defenders of free democracy, are today in a loose state: their political representation is fragmented and unable to create a stable government of the country.
The example of Chardafon: why it is important for Bulgaria today
GERB and DPS used "Euro-Atlanticism" to cover up the negative corrupt reputation of their leaders and in this way little by little they created for him, if not a bad, then at least an ambivalent name.
Many efforts were made to discredit the only pro-European alternative to GERB and DPS - PP-DB. It never became very clear what she was guilty of - some accuse her of excessive support for Ukraine; others - in the exact opposite. Some believe that she was not sufficiently dialogic with GERB and DPS; others - just the opposite. Anyway, 300,000 people withdrew their trust from the PP-DB in the previous elections.
With the collapse of the DPS and the creation of the two formations of Dogan and Peevski, the Euro-Atlantic camp fell into an even worse situation. The two DPS will divide the votes of the Movement and most likely reduce them, because the division itself brings negatives. This collapse will also affect GERB, although their leader Borisov (slightly comically) continues to insist that "neither Peevski ate nor Dogan smelled". GERB also lost over 100,000 votes in the previous elections, and this trend is sure to continue.
In this situation, it is very likely that the (well-deserved and unnecessarily delayed) collapse of the Borisov-Peevski model will put water in the mill of the modern bread-and-butters, Kaulbarsov and rubladji (kopecks, because of the hundred-year inflation).
That is why it is good to resurrect the spirit and example of Chardaphon the Great from time to time, which shows that common sense can sometimes pay off in rather strange characters. Defending freedom requires the mobilization of every talent and resource: it is and must be a common Bulgarian task, not a task only for enlightened or not so enlightened minorities and party elites. These minorities should have learned the lessons of history and not allow popular enthusiasm and energy to lead to subjugation and exile.
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This comment expresses the personal opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and DV as a whole.