Despite a ban by the Sofia Municipality, the Lukov March took place under heightened police presence. Participants in the far-right procession gathered at Sveta Nedelya Square before marching to the house of General Hristo Lukov, where they laid flowers and lit torches.
The Sofia Municipality had banned the event, but the organisers from the Bulgarian National Union appealed the decision, and the court upheld the appeal. In response, Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev ordered a change in the route of the march. The municipality claimed the organisers did not comply with the new route, leading the police to split the procession into smaller groups to avoid confrontation.
Earlier that day, a protest against the Lukov March took place in central Sofia under the slogan “No Nazis on Our Streets.” The municipality had taken last-minute steps against the march, an annual event organised by extremist groups in honour of Lukov, a leader of the fascist pro-Nazi Union of Bulgarian Legions during World War II. Both Terziev and his predecessor Yordanka Fandukova had ordered a ban on the march, but the Sofia Administrative Court, after a challenge from the organisers, referred the matter back. This led to an order for a new assembly point and route, though the organisers did not agree.
Reporters on the scene reported that participants, mostly young men in dark clothing, attempted to march together to Lukov’s house, but the police divided them into smaller groups under escort. Unlike previous years, participants did not carry lit torches, coincided with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church’s All Souls Day, a day for commemoration of the dead.
The organisers of the Lukov March claim that Lukov was not an antisemite, despite his leadership of an organisation with overtly antisemitic stances. They defend him by stating, “Jews were among his best friends,” though no plausible explanation has been offered for honouring a general who led a pro-Nazi organisation, disregarding other Bulgarian generals of the 20th century.
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs firmly opposed the event, stating on 21 February that it would take all lawful actions to prevent it. “Bulgaria, even less its capital, cannot be a place for the manifestation of extremism, intolerance, discrimination, and hatred,” the Ministry emphasised, adding that such actions were incompatible with Bulgaria’s values and traditions.
For years, the Lukov March has attracted neo-Nazis from across Europe and beyond, drawn by Lukov as a so-called “Bulgarian patriotic hero.”
A few hours before the march, the protest “No to Nazis on Our Streets” was held in opposition.
In a joint statement later that evening, the Organisation of the Jews in Bulgaria Shalom, the Federation of Zionists in Bulgaria, the American Jewish Committee for Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and Bulgaria’s Central Israelite Spiritual Council expressed their ongoing opposition to the Lukov March, which they described as a gathering point for far-right activists seeking to revive inhumane ideologies.
“We congratulate the Bulgarian institutions for doing everything possible to prevent this unacceptable manifestation,” the groups said, adding, “We are outraged that the law and constitutional freedom of expression have been used to plant hate speech and division. We remind all of us, as Bulgarian citizens, to oppose our society being used to propagate anti-democratic ideas.”
