The Foreign Ministry of Bulgaria urged Russia not to spread a ‘dubious narrative’ of the Soviet troops’ role in liberating Eastern Europe during the Second World War.
The statement was released in the run-up to the opening of the Russian Cultural Centre’s exhibition ‘The 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Eastern Europe from Nazism’ in Sofia. The event is a sign of meddling in the country’s internal political debate, the diplomats believe.
According to the ministry, Bulgaria does recognize the contribution of the Soviet Union to the overthrow of Nazism. However, the Soviet Army also brought ‘half a century of repression’ to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, they stressed.
The Russian Embassy said they were ‘embarrassed’ by the statement by the Bulgarian side. The exhibition at which only ‘archival materials’ are to be shown ‘has nothing to do with the current Bulgarian political discourse’, its representatives claim.
In the war, the Bulgarian leadership had been backing Adolf Hitler until the autumn of 1944, when a pro-Communist coup took place and Soviet troops entered the country. Years later, the Bulgaria blamed the Soviet Union for the temporary occupation of the state.
