Bulgaria: Anger at Communist Secret Service Anniversary

[Crvena zvezda]

Bulgaria: Anger at Communist Secret Service Anniversary


16 05 2007 Sofia _ A Bulgarian opposition leader Wednesday condemned the country’s president Georgi Purvanov for planning a formal celebration commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Durzhavna Sigurnost, the notorious communist secret service.



Speaking at a parliamentary session, Ivan Kostov of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, DSB, called on “all Bulgarian democrats” to protest against the "planned formal return of Durzhavna Sigurnost to the Bulgarian public stage".

He also said that the celebration of Durzhavna Sigurnost, which was dismantled in 1990 by the then-ruling Communist Party, was an attempt by the ruling coalition to renew ties with Russia.

“It is a sign of the unacceptable intimacy of the ruling coalition with [Russian president Vladimir] Putin's regime and a support for his attempts to restore Russian influence over the country," said Kostov.

Officials from Purvanov’s office confirmed to Balkan Insight that the president will be a patron of the anniversary, scheduled for May 22. They refused to comment further.

The Durzhavna Sigurnost was created as an instrument of Bulgaria’s former communist regime.

According to historical research, the agency was involved in the expulsion of nearly 300,000 ethnic Turks from the country, and the murder of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in London in 1978.

After the collapse of the former Eastern Bloc in the 1990s, many former socialist countries made public lists of key collaborators with secret police. Many were banned from taking state or public posts.

Earlier this year, the Sofia authorities decided to scrutinise the past of Bulgarians wanting to become members of the European parliament. Bulgaria joined the EU earlier this year.

In April, the Dossiers Commission announced that six Bulgarian politicians aspiring to become members of the European parliament cooperated with the communist-era secret service. However, the revelation did not prompt them to resign.