About 2,000 right-wing extremists shouted slogans and carried torches through Sofia in the annual march honouring Nazi collaborator Hristo Lukov.
As Bulgaria sided with Germany in World War II, Lukov led the pro-Nazi Union of Bulgarian National Legions and fostered close links with the Nazi party in Germany. Lukov is also known for spearheading the introduction of antisemitic laws modeled after the 1935 Nuremberg Laws. He was assassinated by two Communist resistance fighters on February 13, 1943.
The march was organised by the nationalist Bulgarian National Union, whose representatives deny Lukov was an antisemite.
Zvezdomir Andonov, of the far-right party, said that the march’s organisers’ goal is “the salvation of the Bulgarian people” from the social and economic crisis.
Local authorities banned the event, but a court overturned the ban. A strong police presence was maintained along the route.
Far-right demonstrators from other European countries, including Germany, Sweden, and Hungary also turned up for the march. Protesters chanted far anti-globalist and anti-EU slogans and called on their peers in other nations to join forces.
Ahead of the far-right march, several hundred people staged a counter-protest under the slogan “No Nazis in the streets.”
