Is it possible that we, the Bulgarians, will not be divided on May 9?

Why were some young Bulgarians built to defend the Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia from desecration, while others painted it with drones?

Is there ever a chance we can unite for something?

I ask the university lecturer, the famous historian Prof. Plamen Pavlov.

He is chairman of the Vasil Levski Foundation and chairman of the Buditel Association, which publishes a magazine of the same name.

This date marks the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies in World War II,

as Bulgaria participates in the final phase of the country of the allied coalition.

This is a historical fact.

We make tens of thousands of victims.

As a result of the Soviet occupation, our nation suffered many hardships.

That is why I think that May 9 in our country should be a day for reflection.

I do not think we should share the euphoria, especially when we are in such a situation of war.

But this day should not be denied either, because it puts an end to an incredible human tragedy in Europe and much of the world.

Let me also remind you that the war does not end on May 8-9, according to the time difference in Europe.

It comes to an end with the surrender of Japan.

This fact should not be forgotten.

Nor should this day become the apotheosis of Stalin's Soviet Union.

No one denies the sacrifices that the Russians made in this war, but we must not forget that the US military,

France, Poland and others are also actively involved in the fighting.

It should be viewed more comprehensively and balanced on May 9, not forward with emotion.

Personally, I cannot accept the Immortal Regiments, nor the strong emotional outbursts.

One of the best experts on the military issue in our country was the founder of "Focus" Krassimir Uzunov, in my opinion, and he said: "If we, the Bulgarians, need such an initiative, it must be related to the wars of national unification. ”.

Our heroes are not Stalin, Zhukov and whoever.

And our Bulgarian generals, officers, soldiers who fought on the battlefields for the liberation of their brothers.

So the transfer of foreign experience is done for political use and I do not think that contemporary Bulgarian political culture should allow such a thing.

I do not think that today Bulgarians support Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Much of public opinion is against the war.

But our politicians strongly politicize history for manipulative purposes.

The peoples of the former USSR have made colossal sacrifices in the WWII, and this is largely due to the imperial policies of Stalin and his regime.

The war began between the allies Germany and the Soviet Union, which divided Poland.

It is not right to forget this.

The world is increasingly making sense of the facts about the war itself, Russia is also doing it and the books of Viktor Suvorov and others are proof of that.

May 9 should not be used as a tool for hybrid warfare.

This is unacceptable for me, but I see that it is being done in Bulgaria.

As I have already said, without denying the victims of WWII, we must make sense of everything else.

The fact that even today young people oppose each other in front of the Soviet Army monument shows that they were used by politicians for selfish purposes.

The politicization of the topic, the clashes, is not good to be exaggerated by the media, which they love to do.

We need to remember that Bulgaria took part in heavy fighting in the German army, but was not recognized as a conquering country, including by the Soviet delegation.

Then the latter won the right to have three delegations, the Ukrainian and Belarusian recognize Bulgaria, but the official Soviet - no.

Geopolitics must be known and understood, despite some of its ugly laws, according to which the USSR occupied Bulgaria in order to attract it to its orbit.

Today is Europe Day and this is the normal reading of this holiday.

The unifying lines of this day are that the brown plague - fascism - has been defeated.

We must never allow a new one to appear.

Let's think!

Prof. Plamen Pavlov

May 9th