Scandal in the European Parliament: a deputy from Bulgaria staged a small fascist putsch

Gennady Charodeyev

Every year in the building of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, there are several incidents involving extremists and radicals who seek only one thing - to get into the scandalous newspaper chronicle. In total, there are 705 deputies in the European Parliament, who represent several dozen political parties operating in the EU countries.

Troublemaker from Sofia

Far from justifying the Bulgarian brawler, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo clarified that Jambazchi is a member of the far-right Bulgarian National Movement party. In the European Parliament, this young man is well known for his radical views, bad manners, hatred of gypsies and the West. In addition, on that day he was a speaker in the Committee on Legal Affairs, before the speech he lost his documents and went to the podium, according to his colleagues, completely not knowing what to talk about. And the debates in the European Parliament were devoted to the supremacy of European law over national law, which is actively opposed by Poland and Hungary. Deputies must decide how to punish "refuseniks".

Angel Jambazsky, who supported the position of Warsaw and Budapest, called the decision of the High Court on the rule of EU law adopted the day before "an abomination." According to him, "today in Europe there is not a single sane person who would believe that laws are not observed in Poland and Hungary".

"The legal mechanism in the European Union is used as a whip to punish countries that do not like it," the Bulgarian deputy was indignant.

It all started with the fact that Dzhambazsky, with shouts and insults, attacked the Italian legislator Sandro Gozi , who for some reason is on the list of Macron's French party, but received a sharp rebuff from the indignant hall. Turning to the podium, Dzhambazsky "produced" a fascist salute.

The Nazi gesture caused indignation on the part of all the deputies, who turned to the President of the European Parliament, Robert Metsola, demanding that they take disciplinary measures against the hooligan or even raise the question of the legitimacy of his mandate.

Reporters in Strasbourg decided to "dig" into Dzhambazka's biography and this is what they, in particular, found out. Angel calls himself a "Bulgarian nationalist". In Sofia, he became famous for his anti-gay statements. A few years ago, Jambazsky introduced himself to the mayor of Sofia and said that, as a member of the European Parliament, he would do everything possible to ban gay pride parades in Bulgaria. At the same time, according to the Bulgarian media, Jambazsky was detained by the police for possession of illegal firearms and driving while intoxicated.

How many radicals and fascists are there in Bulgaria?

Today in Bulgaria, according to the pan-European Internet platform "Civil Nation", there are several large far-right organizations. First of all, this is the Attack party. The second major nationalist party of VMRO is the Bulgarian National Movement. The Bulgarian National Union (BNS), founded in 2001, positions itself as the heir to the Union of Bulgarian National Legionnaires, the fascist organization of interwar Bulgaria.

In 2013, the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria separated from Ataka. At the same time, the Nationalist Party of Bulgaria (NPB) was created, which openly preaches racial hatred.

All these organizations do not hide their beliefs and, moreover, promote them in every possible way on their own websites and social networks. They oppose immigrants and refugees from the Middle East, openly express hostility towards Turks and gypsies.

In his program "Attack" he speaks of Bulgaria as a mono-ethnic state, where there cannot be several faiths, ethnic groups and cultures. The party advocates a ban on the publication of state media in languages other than Bulgarian. Its supporters also propose imposing strict sanctions for "blasphemy against Bulgaria", introducing the wording "national betrayal" into the Criminal Code and holding a trial against "traitors".

In the economic sphere, Ataka advocates the "Bulgarization" of trade, manufacturing and banking, effectively closing these areas to non-Bulgarians. The party also proposes the establishment of Orthodoxy as the official religion in Bulgaria and the introduction of teaching religion in primary schools.

In its program, the Bulgarian National Movement positions itself as "patriots, traditionalists and conservatives". The party advocates the "reunification of the Bulgarians", referring to the accession to Bulgaria of part of the territory of Macedonia.

In its election program, the Patriotic Front proposed demolishing all illegally built Roma houses and forcibly relocating their inhabitants to special camps under police supervision.

In addition, the "Front" defended "the right of the citizens of Bulgaria to oppose the construction of mosques and minarets" and demands an immediate ban on non-temple missionary work of "non-traditional confessions" and worship only in Bulgarian.

Right-wing radicals in Bulgaria have a certain influence on voters, and this influence is growing. In the elections to the European Parliament held on May 25, 2014, the coalition "Bulgaria without censorship" received 10.6% of the votes and two seats in the European Parliament. One of the two mandates was given to the representative of VMRO, the former municipal councilor of Sofia, Angel Jambazki.

In Europe, right-wing parties, movements and groups are becoming more active, writes The Economist magazine. Some, like the French National Front, have eschewed extremist stances and adopted a more reserved image. Others, like the Hungarian Jobbik or the Greek Golden Dawn, are openly racist. However, they are all united by a focus on national identity and strong leadership. These parties are skeptical of the European Union, negative of migrants, and their leaders are "charismatic demagogues," according to The Economist. For such parties, excellent conditions have been created by the current crisis around Ukraine and the influx of refugees in case of war.