"The flower of the nation was shot in front of an unmarked pit by the central cemetery bombings," said Democratic Bulgaria MP Yordan Ivanov, recalling the 147 death sentences handed down by the People's Court. From the parliamentary podium, he emphasized that within a single day, three regents, 67 members of parliament, and dozens of ministers, generals, colonels, and prominent public figures were sentenced to death. According to the MP, it was through the Stalinist government installed after the coup that justice began to be administered via a series of repressive laws and decrees.
Ivanov was categorical that September 9 marks the beginning of "the most shameful and dark period in Bulgarian statehood" and represents the greatest national catastrophe. The communist dictatorship, in his words, was criminal because it humiliated human dignity and erected a "high red wall," obstructing the European path of the nation, which had been clearly set as early as the 19th century by the builders of modern Bulgaria.
In his statement, the MP clarified the chronology of the events surrounding the night of September 8 to 9, 1944. He noted that on September 9, the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria, and the coup d'état overthrew the Muraviev cabinet. At that moment, that government had already declared war on the Hitlerite bloc, had begun negotiations with the US and Great Britain to exit the war, and had disarmed the Nazi troops on Bulgarian territory.
According to Yordan Ivanov, it is unacceptable to exploit nostalgia and impose propaganda narratives onto the "living trauma of collective memory." He expressed the position of the Bulgarian democrats, who consistently seek a path toward national reconciliation and overcoming the wounds of the past but have only met with isolation. As an example of this attitude, Ivanov pointed to the silence of President Radev in 2018, when it was proposed that the head of state should sponsor a team of Bulgarian and foreign historians to produce a comprehensive report on political violence. "Today, we can understand better than ever why we were met with this silence," he added.
In conclusion, the MP reminded that the National Assembly already has a firm and condemnatory assessment of that date. "We, the democratic forces, condemn political violence in all its forms. Honor to the victims of the Red Terror," concluded Yordan Ivanov.