This seems to be the case with a Bulgarian deputy minister, who was shown giving a Nazi salute to a model of an SS officer in the Grévin Wax Museum in Paris, in a photo published by the Bulgarian media.
The man in the controversial photo was appointed as a deputy minister of regional development just a few days ago in a government formed by the Bulgarian EPP member party and a union of Bulgarian right nationalist’s parties. The nationalists have two deputy prime ministers in this cabinet.
PES president Sergei Stanishev said:
“People who have expressed sympathies with such a horrible part of human history as Hitler’s Nazi period have no role in governing a modern, democratic European country. This is even more shocking when the government in the country is led by a party which is a member of the European People’s Party.
“It is a dangerous tendency that traditional right-wing parties are more and more inclined to form governments with far-right formations, neglecting their own democratic values. Such coalitions may be dangerous for democracy in the countries themselves.”