Bulgaria: Group forms "anti-Roma guard"

A minor Bulgarian nationalist group said Monday it will recruiting volunteers for so-called self-defense teams.

The announcement comes following a spate of ethnically-motivated clashes with Roma in the capital, Sofia.

The teams of the nationalist Bulgarian National Union (BNS), will act "in extreme circumstances," in the event of disturbances and natural disasters, Boyan Rasate, the group’s leader, said on Sunday.

The announcement followed last week’s clashes between Roma and ethnic Bulgarians in the Krasna Polyana district, which is located near the overwhelmingly Roma Filipovtsi district.

On Wednesday, more than 200 Roma, including pregnant women and children, took to the streets, armed with clubs, knives and shovels, following a brawl between Roma and ethnic Bulgarians.

"In the past 17 years we became witnesses to Gypsy terror," Rasate said on Sunday, blaming the various governments since the fall of communism in 1989 and the police for the phenomenon.

"The inactivity of the state and the police are the reasons which have pushed the BNS to begin the formation of the national guard," Rasate added. "This is the only solution for the defense of the life, property and families of citizens."

The national guard will be made up of young, physically fit men, "led by patriotism, courage and consistency," Rasate went on. Recruits will be trained by former military personnel, firemen and civil guards and financed on a voluntary basis with the help of NGOs and the private sector.

The police did not intervene directly during last week’s clashes though its increased presence in the area later quietened the unrest. Police and government officials met with Roma representatives on Wednesday and stated their commitment to "better the dialogue and cooperation between citizens and the police," the Interior Ministry said.

Over the weekend, the Ministry announced that eight people had been detained in connection with the clashes.

On Monday, the Interior Minister, Rumen Petkov, condemned the BNS’s plans, and said "there are no grounds for the creation of a national guard."

After meeting President Georgi Parvanov to discuss last week’s violence, Petkov said, "Such actions are inadmissible." "You understand yourselves what it means for a political formation to create a paramilitary structure," he added.

The BNS was founded as a non-political organization in 2001. In 2006, some of its members formed a political movement. It has no parliamentary representation.