PRESIDENT Georgi Purvanov has issued a strongly-worded warning that ultra-nationalism could put ethnic tolerance in Bulgaria at risk.
Purvanov made the remarks at a conference on October 31 on “National Interests, National Identity, and European Integration”.
The conference was organised by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences’ Philosophical Research Institute, the Thracian Research Institute, the Macedonian Research Institute, and the National Self-Preservation Association.
Purvanov called for a national policy to avoid a confrontation between ethnic identity and a sense of national belonging.
The Government should address Bulgaria’s serious social and economic problems, such as unemployment, and inadequacies in education and health care, that could give rise to ethnic tensions, Purvanov said.
There should be a “pro-active” policy towards dealing with such issues in regions with mixed populations, without giving preference to any ethnic community, because all were equally affected by the problems, he said.
“If these problems are to be solved, communities should be consistently integrated, not separated and isolated,” Purvanov was quoted as saying by Bulgarian news agency BTA.
He said that ethnic tolerance was generally the rule in Bulgaria, although there were some examples of serious conflicts.
In what was widely seen as a reference to ultra-nationalist group Ataka, which took fourth place in the parliamentary elections in June this year, Purvanov said: “Confrontation is a breeding ground, above all, for incompetent politicians, who have always espoused the ideology of hatred.
“Ideological confrontation no longer seems sufficiently motivating in party politics, which is why the politically adventurous have resorted to nationalism.”
Purvanov said that there was no outside threat to the Bulgarian identity.
“The major threats to the nation and all things national are, above all, domestic. Ethnic peace is not something given for once and for all, and playing with this fire can be dangerous.”
Patriotism could not thrive on alienation and opposition to Europe. Authentic nationalism should be based on the nation’s contemporary achievements, Purvanov said.
Social analyst Professor Nikolai Genov told the conference that Bulgarian parties and institutions should address the serious economic, social and cultural stratification in Bulgarian society, which could cause inter-ethnic problems.
He quoted a March 2005 survey which said that 57 per cent of the Roma people interviewed saw their social status as very low, along with 20.5 per cent of Bulgarians of ethnic Turkish descent, and 7.5 per cent of non-Roma and non-Turkish Bulgarians. Nearly 91 per cent of Roma, 72.7 per cent of Bulgarians of Turkish descent, and 44 per cent of Bulgarians had incomes of less than 100 leva a month, according to the survey, which also showed a series of other inequalities, for example in education.
Genov said that the Cabinet and Bulgaria’s political parties should come up with a strategy to prevent inter-ethnic conflicts in the country.
Possible “cultural segregation” would be disastrous. If this were combined with social segregation, such as withdrawal from economic life and people living in “ghetto-like” communities, there would be serious conflict among ethnic groups, Genov said.
