Neo-Nazis mobilizing throughout the entire country.?

Yes! There are developments unfortunately and I am really sorry that I am not updating but it is really hard as I am not currently in Bulgaria. I am not sure if I will be able to report too much so please follow the media as much as you can. I know that Al Jazeera covered it and a few more media outlets. I know that is not a realistic picture but it is very hard on the organizers in Bulgaria as they do all sorts of media stuff in Bulgarian.

Basically the whole thing turned to an “ethnic war” (as coined by the media). The soccer hooligans, different political parties, neo-nazis, etc. put the whole conflict in the realm of Bulgarians vs Roma people and last night there was riots and attacks in a few Bulgarian cities. At first sight the riots seem to be spontaneous but they are actually very well thought of and organized. Keep in mind that we have elections in Bulgaria in less than a month.

As of last night

Burgas – part of the “protestors” have tried to kidnap few Roma women but the cops have stopped them. One of organizers has been arrested. 600 people have joined in Burgas.

Sofia – we don’t know the exact number but between 1000 and 2000 have joined the protests. They have tried to put the mosque and the parliament on fire. Not successfully. (excuse my language from here on.) Shouting such as “gipsies, die” “gipsies made to soap, turks under the knife,” etc, etc, have accompanied all the protests. After the cops dispersed them they have gone to different Roma hoods. Fortunately, there haven’t been any major incidents as the police presence has been gigantic in these neighborhoods.

Plovdiv was the biggest gathering ground for nazi scum. More than 2000. Have tried to enter one of the hoods as well.

Varna – thousands again. Groups of them have tried to enter Roma hoods. Unsuccessfully.

Pleven – the headquarters of Movement for Rights and Freedoms (“representative” of the Turkish minority) has been put on fire.

We know that there have been attacks on Roma people. There are also many provocations as the Nazis are spreading rumors of attacks on Bulgarians by the Roma. For example last night they tried to spread the rumor that a Bulgarian was killed in one of the Roma hoods in Varna. They are doing this through social medias. 

What is something new for the scene here is that bikers (motorcyclists) have been joining the riots and the pogroms. We have never seen this before.

I am not going to write about all of the cities but you get the point. The situation is pretty serious. The antifa people on the ground are trying to do the best they could but considering their numbers and the dangerous situation they cannot go to the Roma hoods. However, our first statement is circulating massively in the media and actually major t.v. and radio shows are inviting people from the antira movement to speak. So, the media work is pretty great for right now. They are also posting on walls appealing for all: Bulgarians, Romas, and Turkish people to go on the streets and get rid of the oligarchy. I would say that it has been somewhat successful as many people are starting to say the same exact thing.

Tonight (all of the protests started at 19:00 so more news will be probably coming)

Varna: over 1000 people have been standing in front of the Roma hood “Maksuda”. Massive arrest as they have tried to enter. For right now all we know is that they haven’t succeeded.

Sofia – we have no reports (as the people in the antira are currently in a meeting) but one of the organizers is saying that he can hear sirens all the time. We know that a group has been rioting downtown sofia close to the parliament because when trying to reach it the cops have stopped them.

Quite honestly I think that the media is pretty silent tonight. We know that there have been protests (excuse my language again) against “the tsiganization of bulgaria” all over the country.  However, nothing more than that.

About the Roma in Bulgaria — they are arming themselves as much as they can and willing to defend their families and neighborhoods. They are pretty scared and there have been reports that some of them do not go to work and they don’t let their children go to school. I know for sure that one of the schools in sofia is closed.

Some videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCfSlT4w2jc&feature=player_embedded#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwM03CsHDpk&feature=player_embedded

http://www.dnevnik.bg/izbori2011/2011/09/27/1164192_ataka_agitira_s_broshura_ciganskata_prestupnost_-/ — the parliamentary group ATTACK (the unofficial partner of GERB) are posting this. It is written: The Gypsy criminality – dangerous for the state!

again sorry for the chaotic writing. I will try to post more as things develop.

raia is there more recent reports in english from the village ? are the nationalists and gendarmerie still there ?

Hello to all of you,

Unfortunately, the news that I am contacting you with is not good. On the 23rd of September a child died in the Bulgarian village of Katunitza. He was killed by people that work for the mafia boss Kiril Rashkov. The murder happened after a scandal over property in the village. What we know is that this mafia boss has been appropriating municipality lands for quite some time. After the murder the people in Katunitza went out on the streets to protest against the mafia boss and the injustice served to them. They wanted him and his family out of the village. Everything started as a class conflict, however the media, the right-wing parties in Bulgaria, and the neo-Nazis were quick to react and they framed the conflict as “ethnic.”

Around 2000 neo-Nazis went to Katunitza. They joined the people for the wrong reasons as you can imagine and turned the whole thing into a racist protest. They are mobilizing throughout the entire country and organizing anti-Roma protests.

We have no idea what will happen but for right now things do not look good at all.

Attached you will see a statement written by the anti-racist initiative XoPa. Please distribute widely! Also, if you think that you can put people from the initiative in radio shows, have interviews with them, build up reports with them, etc., please do not hesitate to contact them at: stopnazi.bg (at) gmail.com; http://stopnazi-bg.org/

Bron :

Solidarity,
raia from Bulgaria