US embassy cable - 05SOFIA1504

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SOFIA 001504 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, KTIA, BU 
SUBJECT: BULGARIA: MEDIA AND POLITICIANS FAN ANTI-ROMA 
SENTIMENT 
 
REF: SOFIA 01134 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  The emergence of the extreme nationalist 
party Ataka has paralleled a surge in anti-Roma reporting that 
is adding to a troubling increase in ethnic tension.  Ataka won 
a surprisingly high nine percent of the national vote in June 
and continues to fan negative attitudes towards Roma and other 
minorities.  The group's success has coincided with a series of 
sometimes violent clashes involving Roma and ethnic Bulgarians. 
Sensational media coverage and inflammatory comments by some 
mainstream politicians have further exacerbated the perception 
of growing intolerance.  END SUMMARY 
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EXTREME NATIONALIST GROUP RISES ON BACKS OF ROMA, TURKS 
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2. (U) The emergence of the extreme nationalist group Ataka 
represents a new phenomenon in Bulgarian politics, fueled in 
part by anti-Roma rhetoric.  Ataka won 8.9 percent of the vote 
in June and became the fourth-largest political party in the 
new parliament.  According to analysts, Ataka capitalized on 
popular discontent over crime involving Roma and popular 
perception that Roma receive more state "handouts" than other 
groups.  Ataka's leader, journalist Volen Siderov, called for 
voters "to take a stand against the occupation of our country" 
by Turkish and Roma minorities and "return Bulgaria to the 
Bulgarians."  Ataka has also successfully exploited recent 
tensions between ethnic Bulgarians and Roma in Sofia, where 
Bulgarians staged protests after a university professor was 
killed in a race-related brawl. 
 
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AS ATAKA TURNS UP THE HEAT, ETHNIC TENSIONS BOIL OVER 
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3. (U) Although Ataka's entry into Parliament was condemned by 
all major political parties, its sudden success coincides with 
more frequent expressions of ultra-nationalistic sentiment. 
Inflammatory rhetoric against and physical confrontations with 
Roma have become more commonplace over the past several months. 
A disagreement between a farmer and his Roma employee over 
wages led to a melee in Kozloduy, a town in northwest Bulgaria, 
on July 28 that left ten people hospitalized. 
 
4.(U) On August 1 in a neighboring district, inflammatory anti- 
Roma leaflets were distributed, most likely as a result of 
another large brawl that took place in Pleven two days before. 
Bulgarian residents of the Storgozia area in Pleven have asked 
the municipality to evict the Roma residents from the building 
in which the fight took place.  Another recent incident took 
place in Elin Pelin, where an argument over payment led to a 
violent confrontation between ethnic Bulgarians and members of 
the Roma community.  Several people were injured in the fight. 
 
5. (U) Recent clashes between Roma and Bulgarians led members 
of Ataka and more moderate nationalists from the ethnic- 
Macedonian party VMRO to draft two separate laws providing for 
the creation of "self-defense groups" designed to take punitive 
action against "Roma criminals."  The MPs involved explain that 
the goal of the legislation is to find and punish "Roma 
criminals who are terrorizing the population but are beyond the 
reach of law enforcement and the judiciary."  It is unlikely 
the laws will pass, but the fact that such vigilante groups are 
being proposed is cause for concern. 
 
6. (U) Euroroma, the only Roma party that ran on its own in the 
June elections, attributes the rise in ethnic tension to 
Ataka's anti-Roma campaign, and has expressed concern that 
local media are fueling a negative image of the Roma minority. 
Party leaders argue that this incites ethnic conflict and 
creates a vicious cycle in which Roma are unjustly blamed for 
every confrontation.  Indeed, the press has given unduly 
prominent coverage to clashes involving ethnic Bulgarians and 
Roma, often including sensational front-page headlines implying 
that ethnic Bulgarians are under siege.  The mainstream media 
continue to perpetuate negative stereotypes of the Roma 
community by consistently identifying accused Roma criminals by 
their ethnicity.  Following recent flooding throughout 
Bulgaria, major dailies also reported prominently on 
allegations that Roma were stealing sand intended for sandbags, 
and that displaced Roma had trashed a public school where they 
were temporarily housed.  There has been little coverage of the 
fact that Roma have been disproportionately affected by the 
flooding. 
 
7. (U) Responding to the upsurge in tensions, President 
Purvanov on August 14 strongly criticized "the chauvinistic 
overtones of rhetoric in the current parliament."  In another 
positive development, on July 27 the European Roma Rights 
Center, an international public interest law organization, won 
an antidiscrimination case against a Bulgarian restaurant that 
had denied services to Romani customers.  The decision is based 
on a provision of Bulgaria's Protection Against Discrimination 
Act, a comprehensive anti-discrimination law adopted in 
December 2003.  In the central Bulgarian town of Kazanlak, the 
municipal government decided August 12 to tear down the wall 
that for 25 years has separated the Roma ghetto from the rest 
of the community. 
 
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ROMA IN POLITICS 
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8. (U) The majority of Bulgaria's Roma (approximately 1 
million, according to Roma leaders) live in socio-economically 
depressed areas, and over one-third rely on government 
subsidies as their only source of income.  According to 
official statistics, nearly ten percent of Bulgarian Roma have 
never attended school, and less than one percent have completed 
higher education.  In comparison, nearly all ethnic Bulgarians 
have some formal education, and over twenty percent complete 
higher education.  The unemployment rate within the Roma 
community is also extremely high -- around sixty-five percent 
on average, but as high as ninety percent in some regions.  The 
unemployment rate for Bulgaria overall is around twelve 
percent. 
 
9. (U) There are more than 650,000 self-identified Roma voters 
registered in Bulgaria, and Roma votes have often been 
manipulated in various ways by mainstream political parties. 
Ahead of the June 25 general elections, all major political 
parties opted for a Roma partner.  As in the previous elections 
the Roma party led by MP Toma Tomov signed an agreement with 
the Socialist-led Coalition for Bulgaria.  The chairman of the 
predominantly ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms 
(MRF), Ahmed Dogan, also joined the fierce battle for Roma 
votes.  In a populist effort to secure votes, Dogan promised to 
restore electricity to the Stolipinovo ghetto in Plovdiv, which 
was suspended several years ago because Roma inhabitants had 
not paid their bills. 
10. (U) Euroroma chose the 27-year-old cross-dressing pop 
singer Aziz as the party's honorary chairman and parliamentary 
candidate.  The party's leader, Tsvetelin Kunchev, a former MP, 
had been previously sentenced to prison for battery and 
extortion, but was pardoned by the Vice President a few days 
before the election campaign started.  Despite its colorful 
campaign, Euroroma gathered only 1.25 percent of the vote, 
falling shy of the 4 percent needed to enter Parliament.  Of 
the other three ethnic Roma candidates, only Tomov won, running 
on the ticket of the Socialist coalition. 
11.  (SBU) The predominantly ethnic Turkish MRF, however, 
nearly doubled the percentage of votes it received in the June 
2005 elections as compared to the 2001 elections.  Much of this 
increase is attributed to Roma voters.  There have been 
widespread and credible allegations of voter fraud surrounding 
the MRF's efforts to mobilize the Roma vote.  The Roma 
community's participation in voter fraud in support of the 
Turkish party both dilutes its own political voice and 
contributes to the hostility in the majority community towards 
Roma. 
 
12. (SBU) COMMENT:  In a country where many are finding it 
difficult to cope with the economic challenges of transition, 
Roma remain an easy target for demagogic politicians and 
frustrated members of the majority community.  Despite the 
designation of 2005 as the beginning of the "Decade of Roma 
Inclusion" and the government of Bulgaria's integration plan, 
little is being done to address the serious social problems 
represented by the Roma.  They are treated as second-class 
citizens at best.  Discrimination is pervasive, and the Roma 
community's fragmented nature further complicates its 
situation.  In response to the recent upsurge in negative press 
reporting and inflammatory comments by politicians, the Embassy 
will be pushing its political and media contacts to condemn 
racist rhetoric and other efforts to exploit anti-minority 
sentiments.   END COMMENT. 
LEVINE