Unrest in Bulgaria: New Casualty in Wave of Self-Immolations`

ACTIVISM, EUROPE, 25 Mar 2013

Der Spiegel – TRANSCEND Media Service

A 40-year-old Bulgarian set himself on fire to protest poverty and corruption in his country on Friday [22 Mar 2013], becoming the sixth self-immolation in the EU country in less than a month.

A Bulgarian man died Friday after setting himself on fire to protest poverty and corruption. The incident was the sixth in a recent series of similarly motivated self-immolations in the country. The Naval Hospital in Varna announced that doctors could not save the 40-year-old, who ignited himself at a gas station in the northeastern village of Sitowo.

The unemployed father is the fourth person to die of self-immolation since February in Bulgaria, the poorest country in the European Union, where one in five people live under the poverty line.

On February 19, a man from the central village of Veliko Tarnovo sat down in the middle of a crosswalk and set himself on fire. At the end of February a father of five in the southern village of Radnewo said he was driven to self-immolation by unemployment and poverty. In March, an unemployed blacksmith threw gasoline over himself outside the presidential palace in the capital of Sofia. Security guards extinguished the flames and he survived.

Since the end of January, mass demonstrations against high prices, poverty and corruption have spread through Bulgaria, leading to the resignation of the center-right government of Boyko Borisov.

Warning against Hopelessness

Public self-immolations are not new to Bulgaria and have occurred throughout the world and in many different cultures. Dozens of Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 in protest of Chinese repression. The 2010 self-immolation of a young Tunisian man, Mohamed Bouazizi, was the catalyst for the wave of unrest ultimately leading to the Arab Spring. Czech student Jan Palach ignited himself publicly in 1969 as a political protest against the Warsaw Pact and the resulting invasion of Czechoslovakia. Both Bouazizi and Palach became symbols of resistance in their countries.

Bulgaria now has its own symbol of resistance: Plamen Goranow. On March 3, the 36-year-old activist set himself on fire in front of the Varna municipal building in protest against the organized crime group TIM and the TIM-controlled Varna mayor. Goranow died from his injuries, and the mayor, Kiril Yordanov, subsequently resigned from office.

The church is concerned about the recent wave of self-immolations. Orthodox Church leader Neofit urged the Bulgarians to “under no circumstances” take their own lives. “The Bulgarians must not fall victim to hopelessness,” he said.

The new interim government, made up primarily of technocrats, met on Friday with employers and unions to discuss urgent measures to help the disadvantaged and prevent further such incidents.

chw — with wires

Go to Original – spiegel.de

Share this article: email mastodon facebook 🔗 copy link

DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Comments are closed.