site.btaVazrazhdane Leader Asks How Bulgaria's Heroes Would Be Treated Today

On June 2, the day of remembrance for those who died for Bulgaria's freedom and independence, Vazrazhdane party leader Kostadin Kostadinov said that Bulgaria acknowledges its heroes only after their death. He wondered whether they would be labelled radicals and populists if they lived in our present day.

Kostadinov wrote on Facebook:

"On this day, we bow our heads and honour those who died for Bulgaria's freedom. However, I would like to ask you a question. What would have been the fate of Levski, Botev, Hadzhi Dimitar, Stefan Karadzha, Georgi Benkovski and all the other legendary Bulgarian revolutionaries if they had lived to see the Liberation from Ottoman rule? Or, even more so, what would their fate be in our own time?

"Would they have been labelled radicals, populists, extremists, and extremists of the far right? Would Botev and Levski, with their fierce journalism directed against Turkiye's European allies, and Benkovski, with his phrase, 'Russia, let her come and command', have been declared a threat to EU values and charged with hate speech?

"There are no 'ifs' in history, but I would still ask you to reflect on these questions. Perhaps then you will find the answer to why we Bulgarians acknowledge our heroes only after their death, while during their lifetime we insult, slander and betray them.

"Let us bow before those who died so that we might live," the Vazrazhdane leader concluded in his post.

The Day of Botev and of Those Who Died for the Freedom and Independence of Bulgaria, observed annually on June 2, was commemorated for the first time in 1884 in Vratsa and Plovdiv. It has been officially observed since 1901, when veterans from Botev's rebel detachment attended commemorative ceremonies at Okolchitsa Peak.