Ukrainian authorities have moved to ban the use of names of 520 Bolsheviks from the Soviet Union and famous Communist figures as part of its "de-communization" law.

Regions or toponyms in Ukraine cannot be named after those people anymore, according to a statement by the country's national memory institute [UA]. Apart from Russians and Eastern Europeans, the list also includes people such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Rosa Luxemburg, and Karl Liebknecht.

Four Bulgarians who took active part in the Communist International in the first part of the 20th century. These are:

Dimitar Blagoev, the founder of Bulgarian socialism and a pioneer of social democracy in the Balkans who was often referred to as "Grandfather Blagoev" or simply "the Grandfather".

Dimitar Ganev, who took several key offices within the Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP)'s Central Committee and the National Assembly between 1952 and 1957.

Georgi Dimitrov, a former Bulgarian PM (1946-1949) who chaired the Bulgarian Communist Party and presided over the Comintern (heading all its operations in Western Europe) from 1934 to 1943. Dimitrov was detained and tried for the 1933 Reichstag fire where he was accused of complicity.

Vasil Kolarov, who acted as interim President in 1946, as the grip of the BKP on Bulgaria was still tightening but not yet fully established, and was PM between 1949 and 1950.

The renaming process has to be completed by November 21.

On May 15, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed four bills aimed at "the condemnation of the Communist and Nazi regime in Ukraine," banning all Soviet symbols, opening up state archives and "rehabilitating" insurgents from the paramilitary Ukrainian Insurgent Army which fought to liberate Ukraine in World War Two.

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