The event of 2009 in Bulgaria, according to Ladislav Tsvetkov
Ladislav Tsvetkov, January 2, 2010
Freedom brothers ...
The events that can be defined as important for 2009 are not too many. To make an analysis is something very difficult and, in a sense, quite fussy, even presuming. Indeed, life is life and what has happened is a fact.
If I should line the most important events by significance, with no doubt we should list first the protests in front of the Parliament on the 14th of January 2009. Why? Because now from the distance of time I realise that these protests should not have succeeded and not because of the previous government but because of the current. Only after two cold periods whoever does not understand why, will. And the reason will not be the price of central heating but rather the price of personal freedom.
The dictatorship with a "human face" is already here, and the violations against freedom are a "necessity" and a mentality of the rulers. I define the protests of 14th of January 2009 as an event number 1 because the people who went out on the streets were young, honest and believing in freedom and justice. Indeed, what happened then was another example of the fact that nothing has changed in Bulgaria and the methods to discredit the protest and the intervention of the sticks after the aggression of a handful of hooligans, obviously brought in purposefully and quite well organised, showed our inability to be citizens - something the people with power use whenever they need to.
And after the protests stopped, the events took on with their own agenda. Elections - all the same. The promises and the wording - all the same too: to win the elections with promises and wording, and then who will remember. And when you think about freedom, you inevitably recall the appeal of the government for us to deprive ourselves of more freedom in the name of more security. The main reason is fight with organised crime. Against the background of such appeals, we should ask ourselves what are we doing with the fight for freedom which is often a reason for pride on national holidays when our political leaders line in.
Having said all this, we could calmly say that the event of the year if the intention of the government to take another piece of our freedom (through the law for electronic messages, which gives the police the right to read our e-mails and other types of Internet communication when necessary).
P.S. On the 3rd of March (the Bulgarian Independence Day) with a lot of pathos the names of the heroes and [people who gave their lives for the freedom and independence of our country are being enumerated. If we follow the logic of some politicians, it is time this list to be abolished. It is not up to date and does not respond to contemporary realities.