In an incident on March 14, a far right mob trapped We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria MP Daniel Lorer in a cafe near Parliament, shouting antisemitic and other insults at him.
A video of just more than three minutes posted online shows the aggressive crowd blocking the entrance to the cafe, some shouting at Lorer to come out.
Shouts heard include “Satan” and, to the first two police to arrive, “arrest him for treason”.
Eventually, a phalanx of police escorted Lorer across the road, enabling him to enter the building of the National Assembly. There were shouts of “Jewish garbage”, “Zionist” and “go on, go to Ukraine”.
The incident was condemned by the Organisation of the Jews in Bulgaria Shalom
“Once again, we are addressing all Bulgarian political parties and public figures on the eve of the next election campaign. Antisemitism, xenophobia and discrimination, as well as hate speech, have no place in political debate and are not an instrument of democracy in civil society,” Shalom said.
“We expect that these events will be denounced by the leaders of the political forces and will not become a tool for policy making,” the organisation said.
“We call on the Bulgarian institutions to take up the matter themselves and investigate what happened, and we hope that the culprits will be punished in accordance with the laws of the country.”
