A neo-Nazi group surrounded a hotel in Bulgaria’s resort town of Bansko where dozens of Jewish teenagers were staying, shouting Nazi slogans, giving Nazi salutes and threatening participants in an international youth training program.
The group, dressed in black shirts featuring skull symbols, gathered outside the hotel on Sunday while members of Jewish youth delegations from Italy and Israel were staying there as part of an international program for youth movement instructors.
Neo-Nazis outside the hotel
(Photo: Corriere della Sera)
The demonstrators blocked the hotel entrances, hurled insults at the teenagers, raised their arms in Nazi salutes and shouted the Nazi slogan “Sieg Heil.”
Police were called to the scene and removed the group from the area. However, according to reports, the neo-Nazis returned shortly afterward once officers left and continued threatening and verbally harassing the participants.
Victor Fadlon, president of Rome’s Jewish community, condemned the incident and called on Bulgarian authorities to investigate and prosecute those responsible.
“Our children are not free to travel across Europe without being exposed to violence and verbal harassment from antisemites,” Fadlon said.
Neo-Nazi group surrounds hotel where Israelis were staying in Bulgaria
(Photo: Corriere della Sera)
He described a tense situation in which the group returned after police intervention, again blocking entrances and threatening the teenagers.
The incident in Bansko came about a week after another violent confrontation in Bulgaria involving Israeli teenagers. In that case, a group of 18-year-old Israelis locked themselves inside hotel rooms in Sunny Beach after being attacked in a side street by British tourists who identified them as Israelis, according to reports.
Bulgarian officials condemned the latest incident.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said: “I condemn antisemitism, a virus that must be fought, a form of hatred and discrimination that must be eradicated. I stand with President Victor Fadlon and the Jewish community of Rome.”
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini also condemned the attack, saying: “What happened in Sofia is extremely serious. We strongly condemn every form of violence by extremists, Nazis or communists against Jewish communities.”
He added that any form of “Jew hunting” was unacceptable and expressed solidarity with the Jewish teenagers targeted in the incident.
The episode has raised renewed concerns over antisemitic incidents targeting Jewish communities and visitors across Europe.