Controversy over Bulgarian Deputy PM’s visit to China for victory parade

Controversy and calls for his resignation have followed Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov’s visit to China at the head of a delegation attending that country’s showy large-scale celebrations of the defeat of Japan in the Second World War, with a victory parade with prominent places for attendees including leaders of states hostile to Bulgaria.

Zafirov is the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), a minority partner in Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov’s coalition government.

Participants in the Chinese celebrations in Beijing include Russian ruler Vladimir Putin – whose regime has declared Bulgaria a hostile state – North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Belarusan ruler Alexander Lukashenko.

The BSP press centre released a photo of Chinese leader Xi Jinping shaking hands with Zafirov. They also released a video of the “conversation” between the two – lasting three seconds.

The announcement also includes a video of Zafirov, as the head of the delegation, briskly walking along the red carpet of Tiananmen Square, while Chinese soldiers salute him.

The Chinese visit also includes other members of Bulgaria’s executive branch, in addition to Zafirov – Minister of Regional Development Ivan Ivanov, his deputy Dora Yankova and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Stefan Burdzhev.

It also includes BSP deputy leader Kaloyan Pargov and Peshtera mayor Yordan Mladenov, who is a member of the party’s executive bureau.

Zhelyazkov, questioned by reporters on September 2 about Zafirov’s visit to China, said that Zafirov and other members of the government were on leave, and he had learnt about their trip to China from the media.

The visit was “a party initiative and the government is uninvolved,” Zhelyazkov said.

“I saw, just like you, that they are in China on an official party visit. I guess that the two socialist parties are exchanging experiences. They have not been sent there by me or the government, and the government has nothing to do with the party initiatives of the parties in the coalition,” he said, as quoted by BTA.

Zhelyazkov said that the “political consequences from such visits are for the respective party to shoulder”.

However, while Zhelyazkov said that the visit was a party matter, Chinese authorities claim that Bulgaria is among the 25 countries that officially confirmed their presence at the military parade.

On September 3, Ivailo Mirchev, co-leader of Yes Bulgaria – part of the opposition We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition, told Bulgarian National Television that he would demand the resignation of Zafirov because of his visit to China.

“He looks east,” Mirchev said, referring to Zafirov.

“He looks towards Moscow and Pyongyang. The role of the Prime Minister is very important here and he must himself demand the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister,” Mirchev said.

WCC-DB MP Elisaveta Belobradova said in a post on X: “Since the Prime Minister claims that he does not know where and what his ‘right hand’ is doing, I decided to officially ask Atanas Zafirov himself in what capacity he is in China together with Putin and the North Korean dictator, but the Speaker of the National Assembly Natalia Kiselov decided that my questions were not within Zafirov’s portfolio and redirected them to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Georg Georgiev.

However, Belobradova said that she would again submit her questions to Zafirov: “Because how is it possible that another person would be more aware of what Mr. Zafirov is doing in China than he himself?”

Belobradova said that it seems that for the Deputy Prime Minister, Bulgaria’s foreign policy is divided into days when he is at work and days off.

“During his vacation, Zafirov is anti-Nato, anti-national policy of Bulgaria, anti-democratic system. But when he is at work, he knocks on doors, shouts ‘When will you release money from the EU?'”

“And he goes to European meetings, because in the end, what is the point of being part of the European Union if you don’t pretend to be a big European with other European leaders. And on Saturday and Sunday – in Sochi with Putin,” she said.

“And as exactly what kind of person did Zafirov shake the hand of the Chinese leader – as Atanas from Bourgas or as Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria?” Belobradova said.

The BSP press centre said that the visit to China was official.

The group, led by Zafirov in his capacity as “chairman of the BSP National Council and the BSP-United Left coalition,” held meetings with representatives of local and party authorities in Shandong province.

Zafirov, Ivanov, Burdzhev and Yankova did not receive party money, their visit was at their own expense, the BSP press centre told local media. However, it is not clear what expenses they are talking about – plane tickets, food and accommodation, per diems, etc., and what the Chinese hosts covered.