Declaration
18 February 2018 News
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria strongly denounces the demonstration of xenophobia, discrimination and hate, known as Lukov March, which took place last night in this country’s capital.
This display of undisguised intolerance for others took place less than a month after the entire world paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. Last night’s march brought together in Bulgaria, which is currently president of the Council of the European Union, people from different nationalities, who came here to demonstrate hatred and intolerance. This should be a clear signal for us as a society and as Europeans, who have not forgotten the suffering wreaked by World War II, namely that it is not sufficient simply to recall the tragic events.
Any act of hate and glorification of antisemitic and Nazi ideology is absolutely unacceptable. The incitement of intolerance towards the different individual, the preaching of intolerance and the fierce usage of hate speech, are an attempt to undermine democratic values, which we are upholding as a people and as a community. That is why the MFA highly appreciates the efforts of the World Jewish Congress and of the Organization of Jews in Bulgaria Shalom for increasing public awareness on this subject, as well as for encouraging the struggle against the causes of for existence of antisemitism and hate speech.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to work in international organizations and in cooperation with its partners from the international community for respect of human rights, combating violence and spreading of the culture of peace, in order to make gatherings of the sort of Lukov March a thing of the past.