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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Dismantling of a Soviet Army monument has resumed in Bulgaria |
| 2024-04-24 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] In the capital of Bulgaria, the dismantling of the monument to the Soviet army has resumed. Conservation work on the pedestal began on April 22, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA) reported. Workers began dismantling after the Supreme Administrative Court declared the decisions of the Administrative Court of the City of Sofia invalid due to lack of legal interest. By order of the chief architect of Sofia, the facing slabs with inscriptions were removed from the monument. The monument to the Soviet Army was erected in Sofia in 1954 as a sign of gratitude to the Soviet liberator soldiers. Since 1993, city authorities have repeatedly attempted to dismantle the monument. As reported by IA Regnum, disputes about the dismantling and relocation of the monument to the Soviet Army have been going on for a long time, however, thanks to the resistance of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and its supporters, the dismantling work was constantly postponed. In March 2023, deputies of the Sofia City Council by a majority of votes supported the initiative of right-wing political associations to dismantle and move the pedestal. On December 12, 2023, the dismantling of the monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia began. The governor of the Sofia region, Vyara Todeva, signed a decree on the demolition of the monument based on the latest inspection of its condition. Allegedly, as a result of an inspection, cracks and erosion were found on the monument, posing a danger to people. According to Todeva, after dismantling the bronze figures will be transferred to the ownership of the state. A week later, the court suspended the work at the request of the Revival party. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the destruction of monuments ignorance with bad consequences. The Russian leader recalled that in European countries, memorials to heroes of the Great Patriotic War and simply Russian and Soviet monuments, for example, monuments to Pushkin, are being demolished. |
| Posted by:badanov |