Tensions are raging in Bulgaria, triggered by the September 23 murder of a 19-year-old boy, who was deliberately run over by a van, driven by an associate of notorious Roma boss from the village of Katunitsa, Kiril Rashkov AKA Tsar Kiro.

The murder led to mass protests of ethnic Bulgarians in the Plovdiv village where Tsar Kiro's mansions are located. They culminated into the burning of Rashkov's properties by football club fans from Plovdiv, Sofia and Stara Zagora.

Protests followed in many major Bulgarian cities, including the capital. Over 300 people were arrested by the police after two nights of rallies that are largely perceived as outbursts of ethnic hatred.

Bulgarian authorities froze Rashkov's assets and property while he is investigated on tax evasion charges. Tsar Kiro is currently under arrest.

Along with the clashes, came the bickering among politicians and institutions, passing the ball, and arguing if the issue is criminal, ethnic or political.

The truth is that it is all three, piled together in the last 20 years, over incompetence, inactivity, greed, and corruption, making Katunitsa the spark that can fuel the fire and threaten ethnic peace.

It is criminal because the majority of Bulgarian communities are under "the yoke" of untouchable, gangland feudal lords similar to Tsar Kiro.

It is an ethnic one because of the years-long impunity of Roma crime – petty theft, robberies, arson, beatings, and rapes, and because of the way of retaliation in Katunitsa – vehicles running over people and people setting property on fire.

It is political because of the use, election after election, of paid Roma vote to secure coveted posts, and because of the turning of Katunitsa's residents discontent into a new ethnic card game where a handful of nationalist ballots in the upcoming elections are at stake, and where city children, the majority of whom never witnessed the small-community Roma crime, and are much younger than the problem with Roma integration, were urged to the streets to shout racist slogans.

And to top it all, there is an ironic, bitter-sweet twist in this latest Bulgarian saga – the second young victim of the tragedy, 16-year-old Pavel, who passed out during the turmoil in Katunitsa and died in the hospital because his heart could not handle the negative emotions, had a heart transplant done some years ago by world-renown Bulgarian surgeon, Roma-born Prof. Alexander Chirkov.

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