‘No more tolerance’ MEPs accused of anti-migrant rhetoric in latest protest
NATIONALISTS in Bulgaria have been accused of using anti-migrant rhetoric to whip up support for far-right candidates in the upcoming presidential elections.
Protestors at an earlier anti-immigration rally Harmanli, Bulgaria,
A rally outside a refugee centre in Sofia on Friday saw crowds chanting "Aliens out", "terrorists" and "No more tolerance" as leaders from various parties took to the stage to decry migrants.
The demo was organised by the country's three main nationalists parties - VMRO, Ataka and the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB) - which have jointly nominated VMRO leader and parliamentary vice president Krasimir Karakachanov for the presidency.
Among the 200-strong crowd on Friday was VMRO MEP Angel Dzhambazki and self-styled "migrant hunter" Petar Nizamov, Balkan Insight reported.
Georgi Bliznakov, who fought for pro-Russian separatists during the Crimea crisis and is accused of killing civilians during that conflict, was also present, as were known extremists.
The crowd was said to have cheered loudly when one Ataka MP took to the stage and spoke of "people from a foreign world" who "eat from the bread of our children".
But liberal politicians and observers have accused the groups of whipping up racist sentiment in order to seize power on a wave of hysteria in November's elections.
Petar Nizamov, the so-called 'migrant hunter' was at the rally
We will suffer a lot from this xenophobia
Iliyana Yotova, vice presidential candidate for the Bulgarian Socialist Party, told Nova TV: "If there were no forthcoming presidential elections, and if a coalition between ATAKA, VMRO and the National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria did not exist, would they have organised it?"
Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev was in New York yesterday for a UN summit on refugees
Ivaylo Dichev, professor of cultural anthropology at Sofia University, told BIRN: "They are hungry for power, that is all.
"We will suffer a lot from this xenophobia."