From Temporary Protection to Long-Term Integration: Ukrainians in Bulgaria Seek Stability
Four years after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, integrating Ukrainian refugees into Bulgarian society remains a complex and pressing challenge
Magdalena Tasheva, MP from Bulgaria's xenophobic Ataka (Attack) party. Photo by cross.bg
A group of Syrian refugees in Bulgaria have filed a complaint with the country’s Discrimination Protection Committee against Magdalena Tasheva, a lawmaker from the ultranationalist Ataka party, over a series of shockingly xenophobic remarks.
Tasheva, who hosts a show broadcast by Ataka’s own TV channel, Alpha TV, has repeatedly insulted the Syrian refugees on air, calling them “fiends”, “scum”, “mass killers”, “cannibals”, “savages”, “Islamic fundamentalists who have escaped justice” and “terrible, despicable primates”, among others.
She has claimed that the refugees “have started stealing and beating people” and would “start raping and chopping heads off.”
The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights NGO, will represent the refugees in the case.
“This extreme hate speech triggers xenophobia and poisons the environment for the refugees by spreading stereotypes,” a Bulgarian Helsinki Committee representative has told local media.
Even though it is not officially in power, Tasheva’s extremist party is a key ally of the country’s fragile Socialist-led coalition government.
GERB leader Boyko Borissov reacted to the fall of the Zhelyazkov government during a live broadcast on his official Facebook page, following the mass protests across the country.
The government is making a second clumsy attempt to introduce the state budget.
People with disabilities in Bulgaria face the most severe difficulties in the entire European Union, alongside Greece
The current patient fee for a medical consultation has lost its purpose and no longer serves its intended functions, according to Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA) chairman Dr.
Brussels has unofficially warned Bulgaria’s Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova that the country’s euro adoption process could be suspended, according to BGNES, citing Nova TV.
"Everyone wants positions – in regulatory bodies and ministries," he emphasized.
Novinite 2025 in Review: A Year That Tested Bulgaria and the World
A Disgraceful Betrayal: Bulgaria's Shameful Entry into Trump's Board of Peace