We have reported on the rise of the rightwing in Bulgaria, the poorest of the 28 European Union countries, as it struggles to deal with thousands of Muslim “refugees” (not only Syrians) coming across their border from Turkey. Why isn’t Turkey stopping them when they get to Turkey’s border? That is what we want to know?
But, this story in the Standart (and reprinted from the International Business Times) looks to me like it’s designed to whip-up a frenzy of anti-right sentiment linking the Bulgarian right to Greece’s controversial Golden Dawn. And, they rely on a blogger they describe as a Syrian/Bulgarian, founder of the Forum for Arab Culture (in Bulgarian language we presume), who produced these pro-Palestinian youtube clips (here and here). He would hardly be an unbiased source. Emphasis below is mine:
Bulgaria nationalist groups have launched civil patrols to round-up migrants in the country in a hate attack strategy that is reminiscent of Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn group, The International Business Times reports.
The Balkan country has seen a surge in xenophobic attacks since a wave of refugees escaping from the horrors of the civil war in Syria, 2,000 km south of the capital Sofia, has entered via the Turkish border.
From June 2013, more than 10,000 refugees reached Bulgaria and human rights organisations expect tens of thousands to make the journey in the coming months.
The surge of nationalist sentiment, which led to the creation of the new Nationalist Party of Bulgaria, is fuelled by the government’s lack of preparation, information and adequate response to the refugee crisis, according to Ruslan Trad, Syrian-Bulgarian blogger and founder of Forum for Arab Culture.
“Lack of information leads to aggression and fears. And these fears are used by nationalist factions,” he told IBTimes UK.
“We have no clear information for the refugees: who are they, what’s their ethnic and religious composition.
Wouldn’t that last bit concern you no matter what your home country is that is being overrun?
Read it all. Trad appears to be the source for the whole piece.
Our growing archive on Bulgaria can be found by clicking here. Time to read about Al-Hijra, the Islamic doctrine of immigration!