Bulgaria's President: Firm Condemnation of Fascism Helped Europe Move On

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has said that the unanimous condemnation of fascism has helped Europe move forward and preserve peace.

Speaking Saturday at a ceremony commemorating Bulgaria's military victims of World War II at the Rakovski Defence and Staff College, Plevneliev emphasized that Bulgarian soldiers sacrificed their lives not only for Bulgaria but for peace in Europe.

He noted that the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II gave Bulgarians a reason to be proud of the heroism of some 200 000 Bulgarian soldiers who had taken part in WWII, adding that around 12 000 of them had died in the war.

Bulgaria's President underscored that the mistakes that led to WWII, "the bloodiest and most devastating war", were never to be repeated.

He drew attention to the pernicious statements and proposals for referendums on exiting the EU that were circulating in a number of countries to claim that they were evidence of the departure from the idea of cohesion and overcoming differences.

Plevneliev, as cited by the President's press office, argued that it was precisely this aggressive rhetoric that had propelled the world into the bloodiest war in human history.

He called for an objective treatment of communism, fascism, Auschwitz, the Belene labor camp, the Gestapo, and Bulgaria's communist-era Committee for State Security, popularly known as State Security.

Bulgaria's head of state said that new wars and casualties of war had to be prevented for the sake of patriotism.