3rd International Conference "Central Europe at The Crossroads"
Hosted by Patrimonium Sancti Adalberti
Prague, October 25-27, 2024
Bulgaria and Security Challenges in Central Europe
Viktor Kostov, Ph.D.
„Свобода за всеки“ (Freedom for All)
(The speech was delivered at the morning panel session of the conference on October 26)
Dear organizers of this conference,
Honorable guests,
In this presentation I will suggest my opinion as a human rights and pro-family lawyer, and a student of culture and the Christian faith, as to how Bulgaria is contributing, and will possibly contribute in the future, toward the goal of security, stability, and cooperation in Central Europe.
Firstly, these two concepts, security and stability, in the modern world mean law and order without sacrificing individual freedoms.
I will address the two main challenges to geopolitical security in the region. These are 1) the subversion of fundamental human rights by redefining those or flatly violating them, even over benevolent pretexts, and 2) the erosion of the sovereignty of the individual states and their peoples.
Here I will list several interconnected threats to security and stability for the Central European region.
Undermining human rights by redefining them or completely abrogating them by powerful, non-elected elites, in violation of sovereign democratic constitutions and international law.
#1. Rogue ideologues who exhibit disregard for the natural order and show hatred for God and humanity. One example is Uval Harari, a University of Jerusalem professor and spokesman of the infamous World Economic Forum. A man with a “husband” and with misanthropic ideas well favored by the legacy media and naive audiences. Harari’s ridiculous explanation of human rights nears genocidal overtones. He publicly states, basically, that regular people are “useless eaters” and that “there is no God and no human rights.” Harari explains: “If you cut a man open you will see organs, but you won’t see human rights.” This level of ludicrous reductionism and deconstruction of humanity is applauded while it surely qualifies, by their own standards, as “hate speech.” Theorists of this rank proliferate in the organizations that yield power over our states. They filter down through groups of rich and powerful do-nothings like WEF whose unconcealed goal is to save the earth while depriving individuals all over the world of liberty, property and happiness; and while assuring us that slavery is what we have always wanted.
#2. Attack on freedom of conscience and speech. It happens by introducing euphemisms like “fighting misinformation and disinformation” and even “malinformation” (whatever that is). Introduction of censorship and control of the flow of information in gross violation of the sovereign constitutional principles of the nation-states in Central Europe and of international law.
#3. Warmongering and propaganda. Parallel with limiting “unapproved” opinions and information on important societal and political issues, we see the rise of censorship and propaganda. The list goes on: 1. Disregard for life by the industrial military complex interested in creating and protracting wars for selling weapons and making profits on the back of human lives; 2. Reckless speeches by high level politicians who have little or no understanding of diplomacy or history; 3. The irresponsible lack of a determined pursuit of cease fire and peace in the Russo-Ukrainian war, which puts the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe on the verge of being involved in the largest military conflict and tragedy since WW2.
I can assure you that the people of Bulgaria have no interest in joining wars stoked by rich and powerful elites who may not even be able to point out the country on a map. I do not doubt that this feeling is shared by many other citizens of the Central European nations.
#4. War on the natural family, and the dignity of man and the person, and on personal privacy. This war is waged through sexual education imposed on small children; LGB propaganda promoted in schools; re-definition of human rights to create new rights like trans-rights, right to sexual orientation, or “marriage equality.”
One notable example is the Istanbul Convention. It is noteworthy that Bulgaria, represented by large segments of parents and churches, and of course by the movement on rights, freedoms and family privacy which we Freedom for All, and ROD International, represent, and also by the Supreme Courts of the country, firmly rejected the redefinition of man and woman as proposed by this international fiasco of a treaty. However, not to be outdone, the sexual liberation (or aberrations?) movement, with its firm grip on political power, continued to introduce fragments of the Istanbul Convention, piece by piece in other forms of legislation and policies. Here is some international history.
In the early stages of redefining fundamental human rights and marriage, in 2013, the British prime minster, James Cameron, announced that he wanted to export their law on same sex marriage to the whole world. What an illustration of imperialism. That was one of many brazen pronouncements from the so-called elites that they want to socially engineer not only the people in their countries but the whole world. Since then that pronouncement has metastasized in all spheres of life; including by way of pressure from the EU that Central European peoples adopt this new inverted morality where good is evil and evil good, and where truth is treated as a lie and the other way around. Here is the mechanism of moving to a totalitarian state:
A totalitarian state creates a totalitarian society, the result of which is totalitarian thinking. The method of creating a totalitarian society is not complicated. It contains two main components: (1) violence against dissenters and opponents and (2) manipulation of the masses through mass propaganda. Thus, by instilling fear, totalitarian leaders create the conditions for self-censorship and reformulation of the truth. Through propaganda, tyrants change the terminology and mental categories of the people and mold them to their own ideology.[1]
An example in this regard is the centralization of social life in the hands of the state. Last year the neoliberal Bulgarian Ministry of Culture funded with tens of thousands of euro drag-queen shows, something unheard of in Bulgarian history and tradition.
Attack on fundamental rights and especially freedom of speech and freedom of conscience
In order to enslave, one has to deprive individuals of their right to think, believe, and speak. Thus, those in power, who want war, or radically new sexual order, propagandize for it, by controlling all opinions that differ.
To quote the modern-day political prophet, the US journalist Tucker Carlson, “If they take away your ability to speak, they take away your dignity, and your freedom. Without freedom to speak your mind you become a slave.” Carlson did not invent this important truth. However, his restatement of it also shows how far contemporary “free” societies have sunk into political correctness and self-censorship.
Thus, the biggest threat to security, or rather to freedom and justice, the censorship of people’s beliefs and conscience, and thoughts; along with the free flow of information.
The United Kingdom, the cradle of democracy and human rights, has officially become a police state where people are criminally prosecuted for silent prayer in their thoughts. Several days ago, a man, Adam Smith-Connor, was convicted as a criminal by a British court for praying silently in front of an abortion clinic back in November of 2022. This abomination of justice and a violation of any human rights international treaty only shows that the British problem is not solved by their Brexit, and that the totalitarian virus is alive and well not only in Brussels.
Bulgarian Contribution and the Central European Project
The push toward the sexualization and propagation of an inappropriate and twisted sexuality to children is not something that Bulgarians appreciate. A few weeks ago, the Bulgarian parliament passed a law, almost unanimously, that homosexual and transgender propaganda will not be allowed in schools. It will not be immodest to point to the fact that our organizations’ work has a lot to do with this awakening of the political class to the needs of regular people and to the need to defend children from predatory influences. Placed in the context of the conservative and pro-family movements in the region this is a significant marker.
The Bulgarian government is yet to engage in the current conversation on the Central European project. Yet the global issues affect the national state, and the sooner government officials warm up to exploring the opportunities of the current discussion we are having here the better decisions they will make in leading the country.
What else can Bulgaria offer to stable geopolitics?
A tangible Bulgarian contribution in the light of security, as I defined it above, is from grassroots movement and field defense of the family and human rights and dignity. As a human rights lawyer and a Christian, my organization has worked hard to defend freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and speech, in the courts and in public debate. We have won cases at the European Court of Human Rights and on a local level. Just weeks ago, we won Dr. Hristo Laftchiev’s case who was criminally prosecuted for his criticism of anti-family policies. For the third time, within the same proceedings. Dr Laftchiev is an outspoken pro-family activist and his publicly shared opinions in defense of the traditional family rattled the NGO world. We won the case on the merits and even if the appellate court tried to revive it twice, on a rather weak legal basis, we finally had the case dismissed in the beginning of October.
My colleague lawyer Vladimir Sheytanov, who is here today, and I were also sued for defamation by the same NGO for expressing our criticism of the anti-family ideology in TV program in 2020. We successfully defended ourselves and defended freedom of speech. Moreover, we countersued for defamation and won both cases. The case was closed just a few months ago.
Together with other lawyers and leaders we worked to have a family oriented-patriotic movement defending the family, personal and family privacy, and fundamental human rights.
This work comes at a price as we are called extremists by the anti-family and anti-freedom gangsters. However, as a Christian, I love my enemies. That love includes the duty to not let them prevail in their lies, deception and tyranny. Disciplining your opponent with the truth is a clear exercise of Christian charity.
This forum is of critical importance for waking up governments and politicians, as well the people, to the dangers of globalists expansions. A solid international community of peoples is important for a better world; however, it should not come at the expense of national sovereignty, independence and freedom. Participation in a Central European alliance of equally small, non-imperialistic nations may turn out to be a solution for escaping from the “always-bullied-by-the-big-guy” paradigm and provide support toward a good political goal. In that international community freedom to believe and speak will remain the best guarantee for informed decisions in public policy and for a just, free, and secure society. Otherwise, those who do not speak against the lies today will not be allowed to think the truth tomorrow.
Notes
[1] Mechanics of Totalitarianism, 2009, Freedom for All. https://svobodazavseki.com/mehanizam-na-totalitarizma-postkomunisticheski-transformatzii/ Access: Oct 22, 2024
The photo below: A moment from the work of the conference
