The Varna District Prosecutor’s Office filed motions to disband two pro-Russian paramilitary groups, according to Bulgarian media.
The prosecutor’s office announced the petition on Wednesday, May 22. It plans to dissolve two groups, the Bulgarian National Movement Shipka and the Bulgarian Military Union Vassil Levski, according to the statement.
The decision came a year and a half after the prosecutor’s office launched a probe into the activities of two related organisations. For many years, both organisations have conducted tactical military exercises, with participants wearing masks and uniforms. They are against Bulgaria’s membership in NATO and the EU.
The leaders of the two organisations faced accusations of threatening national sovereignty and inciting ethnic or religious hatred.
In 2022, following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into Shipka. Although the investigation was reportedly terminated in early 2024, the prosecution is now requesting its dissolution.
In its request, the prosecution says both organisations violated Bulgaria’s constitution, which prohibits organisations that undermine national unity or incite hatred. They allegedly propagated religious and ethnic hatred and encouraged violence against foreign nationals. The groups also reportedly provided combat training to their supporters and organised civilian patrols along the Bulgarian-Turkish border.
Meanwhile, Kostadin Kostadinov, Chairman of Bulgaria’s largest opposition party Renaissance, recently called NATO an aggressive bloc, recalling that Bulgaria joined the alliance 20 years ago.
Now our propaganda continues to explain that this is the only format that guarantees national security. The truth is that Bulgaria has never been in greater danger than it is at the moment, precisely because of its NATO membership.
Kostadinov described the country’s withdrawal from NATO as the only way to protect Bulgaria. He claimed that the country might engage into a military conflict that had entered an active phase since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.
