Bulgarians in panic: They will attack us, too

Bulgarians in panic: They will attack us, too

According to a survey conducted in that country, three out of four Bulgarians are afraid of the use of nuclear weapons. It is a research conducted by the ESTAT agency for the Foundation Workshops for Civic Initiatives.

54 percent of respondents fear that Russia could occupy Bulgaria, and 62 percent fear that it could carry out missile or bomb attacks on its territory.

That could be an explanation why that country is not in favor of a tougher policy towards Moscow and why the society is trying to have a more neutral attitude towards the war in Ukraine, writes EURACTIV.com.

Half of the respondents said they expected NATO to help Bulgaria in the event of an attack, but only 41 per cent supported Bulgaria's membership in the military alliance, while a third voted against. The survey also shows that only 10 percent of Bulgarians know the history of Bulgarian-Russian relations, while 80 percent are not sure of their knowledge, which creates fertile ground for Russian propaganda and distortion of historical facts.

The Bulgarian state was created after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, but the authorities in Sofia remained vassals of the Ottoman sultan even after the war, only to declare independence at the beginning of the 20th century.

The majority of Bulgarians (61 percent) do not know that Russia opposed the unification of Bulgarian territories in 1885, and 42 percent are convinced that the USSR did not declare war on Bulgaria in the Second World War.