The World Jewish Congress has called on Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to ban the annual neo-Nazi march, set for Feb. 13.
WJC CEO Robert Zinger submitted the petition, which was signed by 175,000 people from around the world and 2,000 of Bulgaria's Jews, at a meeting with Borissov over the weekend.
During the march, which has been held annually since 2003 by the neo-Nazi Bulgarian Union, participants carrying torches parade through the capital of Sofia in honor of Hristo Lukov, a Bulgarian World War II general, leader of the Union of Bulgarian National Legions, and major supporter of anti-Semitic laws in his country. Lukov backed the deportation of 11,343 Jews from Bulgarian territories to the Treblinka death camp.
"There must be no room on the streets of a European capital for a parade that worships a man and an age that represented this most sinister part of our history. In the context of Bulgarian and of European history, permitting the Lukov March would be an abomination," the petition says.
Zinger said he told Borissov, "In our opinion, the Lukov March is not only against the Jews, but above all is directed against the Bulgarian people and their hard-earned democracy."
Borrissov responded by saying, "The Lukov March is the work of an entirely marginal group and will not affect the relationships between people that were built over the centuries."
