Bulgaria is not a fascist state and Bulgarian society is not fascist. But in order for it to remain a democratic and free country, care and effort must be made. And incidents like the one in Bansko must not be normalized.
Neo-Nazis, boys with bare heads and black clothes and groups of thugs who beat people out of hatred, exist in all modern societies. They exist in our country too, as the extremely disturbing cases from Bansko and Plovdiv in recent days have shown. In the first, neo-Nazis made Hitler salutes and racial insults to a group of young people - Italian Jews - who were most likely noisy and ill-mannered hotel guests. In the second, a man who was accused of being a pedophile by a group of young people died after being beaten.
Isolated incidents, one would say, on the basis of which generalizations about Bulgarian society should not be made. This is a wrong objection for two reasons. First, after the appearance of the so-called "locals", it cannot be seriously claimed that young violent people are an isolated phenomenon. On the contrary, it is a fashion that is spreading not only in our country, but also around the world. The far right is stronger than ever since World War II. In the global networks, violence has its ideologues and gurus - like Andrew Tate, for example, who are very influential among young people. Neo-Nazi views are also experiencing a kind of renaissance everywhere, and in our country they are incorporated into the activities of football agitators and other groups. So it is not good for society to turn a blind eye to these trends.
To prevent the perpetrators from becoming heroes
The second reason why the theory of "isolated incidents" is wrong is that it tries to downplay and normalize what happened, as well as to assume that society and the authorities should not have a special reaction to it. It is no coincidence that in democratic countries the authorities are traditionally hypersensitive to neo-Nazism and violence in the streets. This is because tolerating "isolated incidents" brings violence into people's everyday lives and can even turn the perpetrator into a hero. Hitler's rise began with his heroization after a rather pitiful and unsuccessful putsch attempt in Munich, for which he received a rather symbolic punishment. Seemingly small and even comical incidents can become the first links in sinister chains of events.
That is why the reaction of Bulgarian Prime Minister Radev to the incident in Bansko seems strange. This incident was initially covered up for several days by the Bulgarian media. When the scandal broke out in Italy, Radev emphasized that "it is in the traditions of our institutions and our society not to accept any manifestations of xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism and to always react" and at the same time called on foreign leaders "to familiarize themselves with the facts before condemning and commenting on our country", and foreign tourists - to comply with Bulgarian laws and not to provoke tension with their behavior. The behavior of the Italian youth was certainly problematic, but the answer to it cannot be Hitler salutes and insults on ethnic or religious grounds. Therefore, Radev's reaction should have been more categorical, so as not to be interpreted as normalizing such behavior or a call for imposing a universal "Dinkism" in Bulgarian society, which deals with migrants, homosexuals, Jews, foreigners, etc. Incidentally, the case in Plovdiv is an illustration of what a universal "Dinkism" would look like, although the youth there may have surpassed the Yambol pioneer in cruelty.
The danger is that such behavior, which uses violence to deal with real and imagined violators of order and enemies of the people, could turn into almost a form of patriotism and service to the nation. This is precisely the fascism of society, which must be avoided at all costs. Mussolini's Blackshirts and Hitler's Storm Troopers were organized groups for violence and self-murder, justified by patriotic motives.
Bulgaria is not a fascist state and Bulgarian society is not fascist. But in order to remain democratic and free, the authorities, as well as society, must take care and make efforts to prevent fascism. To begin with, the essence of fascism must be clearly defined so that it can be recognized. And this essence lies in the use of violence against internal and external opponents. At a deep principled level, fascism is the understanding that violence is a legitimate way to resolve disputes. Based on this theory, an authoritarian or totalitarian dictatorship is built internally, and externally - a military empire.
From this perspective, fascism is a revolutionary ideology - it aims to replace power with violence, justifies violence or shifts the blame for it onto the victims themselves. Typical fascist arguments are as follows:
Violence against internal opponents (homosexuals, Roma, foreigners, liberals, cultural Marxists, pedophiles, traitors, foreign agents, etc.) is justified;
These opponents have deserved the violence and have provoked it with their free and unrestricted activity, which must be immediately banned;
If the interests of the state and the nation are threatened, it can start a war;
It is not an aggressor, because the other side is to blame for the violence, which provoked it with its intransigence.
These arguments may sound abstract, but in fact Putin's Russia is a good illustration of their use both internally and externally. Purists will certainly argue that Russia is not a complete totalitarian fascist state, although their arguments in this direction are becoming increasingly thin. However, there can be no dispute about violence against internal and external enemies and opponents: Russia uses and has institutionalized all four lines of argumentation justifying its violence. Ukraine and the West are to blame for Russian aggression, the Russian opposition is in prison, dead or declared a foreign agent, etc.
This is not a party battle of "liberals" against "far right"
The fascism of a society is an interesting phenomenon. Figures such as journalist Vladimir Solovyov, for example, have become apologists for the current military dictatorship, although in the past they held quite liberal positions on many issues. No one is immune to fascism. Public figures in our country also willingly repeat the main theses of Solovyov and company and bash the "guilty" West for the violence that Putin's military dictatorship unleashed and continues to exercise.
From this point of view, "tolerance" and even the enthusiasm for Russia's actions in Ukraine among a part of society are a sign of the processes of fascism in our country.
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In this text, the concepts "fascism" and "fascization" are not used metaphorically and frivolously. Fascism of a society can occur before the collapse of democratic structures in it. Creeping fascism begins and consists in the use and justification of violence against opponents (whatever they may be). Therefore, instead of calming ourselves with the theory of the "isolated incident" as a government and a society, we must react unitedly, clearly and categorically to all forms of violence, to all attempts to belittle, justify and even revive denied ideologies such as fascism and Nazism. This is not a party battle of "liberals" against "far right". This is simply common sense and an instinct for the survival of democracy.
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This text expresses the opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and the State Gazette as a whole.