Tension between Bulgarians and Roma in the municipality of Garmen, which escalated on Saturday to a massive brawl, continued on Monday. Residents of the municipality and their relatives from other parts of Bulgaria handed the mayor their demands for solving the problem. Protesters demand that illegally residing Roma and those who have built their homes illegally should be evicted. Otherwise, they will "take matters into their own hands."

Recent developments give rise to fears of a dangerous repetition of events in the Plovdiv village of Katunitsa where a conflict between gypsies and the local population led to mob violence and arson. The mayor of Garmen complains that if things came to forced demolition of illegal buildings, the municipality would be unable to accommodate their inhabitants, as required by law, as it did not have public housing.

This is a legal and administrative impasse at the backdrop of long-existing problems. This time, on the eve of May 24th, Day of the Bulgarian Alphabet and Culture, over 500 people from Garmen and Marchevo blocked a number of roads because of the conflict. Protesters claim that they do not have a problem with the local Roma but with those coming from other regions of the country, who lay to waste everything around, people accommodated here by the former mayor on the basis of a false document.

Escalation of social tensions has provoked political reactions. The Patriotic Front, which supports the government, warned that it would reconsider its attitude towards the ruling coalition unless urgent measures were taken against petty crime. One of its leaders, Valeri Simeonov called for the creation of volunteer "neighbourhood watches", because the government was not taking any measures to combat crime. According to politicians from the rightist Reformist Bloc, which is a partner in the governing coalition, tension in the municipality is caused by a power struggle between two wings of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) associated with the ethnic Turkish minority. The party argues that tension in Garmen is mounting because of the battle for the mayor’s position between current mayor Minka Kapitanova and former mayor Ahmed Bashev, both MRF members. According to the reformers, this kind of conflict is not inherent to Garmen, but is a local phenomenon with a pre-election "flavour" that is typical of other parts of the country as well.

That these events are not unique to Garmen is beyond any possible doubt. That allowing illegal Roma settlements and tolerating unacceptable behaviour have political and pre-election motivation is one more thing that is beyond doubt. What is doubtful is that this time adequate measures will be taken, as local elections are up in the autumn and this means the Roma will be treated first and foremost as voters, as much as that is not to their advantage as it makes of them political hostages.

English: Alexander Markov

Edited in English by Milena Daynova