The referendum on joining Russia, as it was: a view from Bulgaria.

The interlocutor of Ridus is the chairman of the Bulgarian Russophile Community, Mladen Veselinov, with whom we talked both about the past referendum and his impressions of what he saw, and about the current socio-political situation in his native country and in the rest of the world.

Below we publish this interview in text format.

“Ridus”: Mladen, good afternoon! We are glad to welcome you in Moscow. Our readers and subscribers of our online publication are interested in issues related to the referendum and not only related to bilateral relations between our countries. You are a representative from Bulgaria. So please introduce yourself, and we want to hear your opinion about what you saw.

Mladen Veselinov: Good afternoon! As they said, I’m from Bulgaria. I came with guys from other countries to the referendum to see how everything is going, whether everything is going according to democratic norms, according to international rules, and so on.

“Reedus”: Well, actually, our next question follows from this. What can you say about the observance of the democratic voting procedure that you observe? Have you noticed any signs of any coercion to vote?

Mladen Veselinov: No. I can even say more: people came to the referendum with smiles, some cried with joy because they were able to express their opinion. Everything went according to all norms of international law. No violations on our part were noticed.

“Ridus”: So you saw in people’s eyes the hope that the shelling would stop and life would become peaceful?

Mladen Veselinov: Yes, as they said, “we finally hope for a better future.”

“Reedus”: It’s nice to hear that. While in the region, have you heard the echoes of the Ukrainian shelling? Have you noticed their footprints?

Mladen Veselinov: Well, of course, you know, we were in the Kherson region, where the Antonovsky Bridge was destroyed. That is, the Ukrainian army bombed it again, it was impossible to drive through it, so we moved across the Dnieper by ferry. So yes, it was obvious, there was shelling, the building where civilians live was shelled. Of course, it is clear that there were no military there, no administrations and so on. It’s just that the Ukrainian army was shooting at civilians.

“Ridus”: And what do civilians say about these attacks?

Mladen Veselinov: Well, what they say. They just say: “Come on, guys, we hope very much that after we become part of Russia, this will all stop.” Because people are sick of this. They can’t live normally, go to work just there. It is clear that at any moment during the shelling you or your loved ones can be killed.

“Ridus”: And tell me, please, how is this covered in the Bulgarian media? Is it even mentioned in the Bulgarian media?

Mladen Veselinov: Of course. But, unfortunately, the Bulgarian media are very anti — Russian. They show only the Ukrainian view. Practically nothing is said about the shelling from the Ukrainian side, even if it happened. Or at some point they will say that there were some attacks, but they say that the Russian army did it, although it is clear to everyone that this is not the case. We saw this with our own eyes.

Ridus: And how high is the level of trust in such information in Bulgarian society?

Mladen Veselinov: Not very high, because the Bulgarian people understand what is happening, remember our common history, the fact that Russia liberated us twice. So most people have no doubt that this is propaganda that we are conducting against Russia.

Ridus: How much do you think these attacks motivated people to come and take part in the referendum?

Mladen Veselinov: I think they were very motivated, because if they bomb civilian infrastructure, these people understand that their friends are not in Kiev, but in Moscow.

“Ridus”: Residents of the Zaporozhye region about the Ukrainian shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which is the largest in the region, say that it’s like Ukraine shot itself in the leg. How do they look at the prospect of an environmental catastrophe in Europe, which may occur as a result of such attacks?

Mladen Veselinov: You know, it’s a very good question. Of course, Europe is looking at this very seriously, and Bulgaria is even more serious, because if, God forbid, a Ukrainian shell arrives there and there is a radiation surge, so to speak, it will affect Bulgaria as well. The whole coast will actually be unsuitable for tourism and so on, so…

Ridus: The tourism industry is one of the main…

Mladen Veselinov: Well, practically our tourism will end forever, so in Europe they are looking at it very seriously.

“Reedus”: I see. This year, in the summer, Bulgaria’s relations with Russia went into a cold stage, one of the milestones of cooling these relations was the expulsion of seventy Russian diplomats from the country. How independent is Sofia in making such decisions?

Mladen Veselinov: Well, you know, of course, Bulgaria is now, unfortunately, not an independent state. Bulgaria’s policy is completely treacherous towards Russia. This is a fact, unfortunately. Seventy diplomats who were kicked out… I personally, like the Bulgarian people, do not understand why this happened, because the people who work at the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria are our friends, not enemies. And this is a precedent when people were simply kicked out of a country according to a list.

“Ridus”: So there was no reasoned justification for this expulsion in principle?

Mladen Veselinov: No, of course not.

“Ridus”: Another point of problematic relations was the story of the supply of weapons from Bulgaria to Ukraine through Poland. Is there any warming and clarity in relations between Bulgaria and Russia?

Mladen Veselinov: I hope so, but, unfortunately, this will not happen in the near future.

Ridus: What do you think about the Bulgarian gas incident? At first, Bulgaria seemed to be ready to pay for Russian gas in Russian money, then the technical government changed its mind and preferred to buy gas from intermediaries for 30% more expensive. Should the reason for such inconsistency be sought in Sofia or beyond? And what can change after the parliamentary elections?

Mladen Veselinov: Most likely, this decision was made somewhere in the West, our politicians are completely dependent, and even more so they have an interest in having these 30%, because the commission somehow passes for them, that is, corruption, such a high level of corruption is obtained. And what was the next question, please?

Ridus: What will change after the parliamentary elections in the country?

Mladen Veselinov: Well, as I said, now… something will not change immediately in the next few years. But, most likely, after the referendums that took place in the territories liberated by Russia, I hope that we in Bulgaria will finally have such an elite that will be able to look further into the future so that the Bulgarian people live well. We can live if we have friendship with Russia.

“Ridus”: Are there any countries, political forces in Bulgaria itself that are ready to pursue a truly sovereign policy so that the people of Bulgaria stop depending on some global conjuncture and can live peacefully on their own, not survive, and earn decent money, plan some kind of their future so that Bulgaria grows and flourished? Are there such forces?

Mladen Veselinov: You know, in my opinion, there is no such thing. Yes, there are people who say: “We want to be friends with Russia,” and so on. In fact, it turns out that these people are somehow dependent on the West, they are just trying to get votes from the Bulgarian people, because everyone knows that more than 80% of the Bulgarian people are the initiators of Russia, friends of Russia.

“Ridus”: But tell me, at the household level, what is the attitude of Bulgarians to Russians now?

Mladen Veselinov: Very positive.

“Ridus”: But these restrictions that the countries of the European Union have imposed, let’s say, on travel, the arrival of Russian citizens on the territory of Bulgaria, how seriously have they affected the Bulgarian economy?

Mladen Veselinov: Well, of course, they did, because we actually had the largest number of tourists coming from Russia, so our tourism sector suffered a lot from this.

Ridus: Is there any parliamentary series planned, or does some political force want to pursue a policy that will allow Russian citizens to come to Bulgaria calmly, without any problems, that is, is such a demarche possible in the colors of the European Union, on the territory of Bulgaria?

Mladen Veselinov: Yes, it is possible, there are very strong prospects in this, somehow we are trying to do something about it. That is, as a representative of an organization that communicates very well with other such organizations, I hope that it will work out someday. And after the referendum, as I said, I hope that the process will somehow go ahead.

Ridus: What would you like to wish the Bulgarian and Russian people? If your wish came true, what would you like?

Mladen Veselinov: I would like to wish real friendship, as it was in the past, because the closest people to the Bulgarian people are the Russian people, without a doubt. One mentality, practically one language, religion is the same. So I hope everything will be very good soon.