A special exhibition of communist paraphernalia marked November 10, the day when Chief Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) and Head of State Todor Zhivkov was dismissed from his post in 1989. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)
A special exhibition of communist paraphernalia marked November 10, the day when Chief Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) and Head of State Todor Zhivkov was dismissed from his post 17 years ago.
Filled with reminiscences from the old times, the exhibition called Scent of Socialism, opened in Sofia's Red House, attempting to tell the story of socialism in a non-ideological, intimate and even funny way.
The date provokes reflections on what we've accomplished, where we're going as a country and as a civil society; it raises debates about the direction and the outcome of the transition, organizers say.
The country's first major state meeting urging for democratic changes was held November 14 at the St Alexander Nevski Square in capital Sofia and was attended by thousands of people.
It was the beginning of the December that saw the formation of the first democratic party in Bulgaria since September 9 1944. Its first leader Zhelyu Zhelev happened to be Bulgaria's new president.