Monumental Task

From the MT:
"Russia Wants Bulgarians to Stop Vandalizing Soviet Monuments"

Russia is demanding that Bulgaria try harder to prevent vandalism of Soviet monuments, after yet another monument to Soviet troops in Sofia was spray-painted, ITAR-Tass reported. The Russian Embassy in Bulgaria has issued a note demanding that its former Soviet-era ally clean up the monument in Sofia's Lozenets district, identify and punish those responsible, and take "exhaustive measures" to prevent similar attacks in the future, the news agency reported Monday. The monument was sprayed with red paint on the eve of the Bulgarian Socialist Party's celebration of its 123rd anniversary, the Sofia-based Novinite news agency reported. The vandalism was the latest in a series of similar recent incidents in Bulgaria — each drawing angry criticism from Moscow. Early this year, unknown artists painted another monument to Soviet troops in Sofia in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. In August last year, a Soviet army monument in Sofia was painted pink in an "artistic apology" for Bulgaria's support of Soviet troops who suppressed Czechoslovakia's Prague Spring revolt against Moscow-based communist rulers.

^ I can understand how the people in Eastern Europe (where there are dozens of Soviet memorials) feel. Some were on the Axis side during World War 2 (like Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Germany) and others were victims of both the Nazis and the Soviets (like Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia.) For all of them the repression didn't end with the war as the Soviet Union occupied these countries until the 1990s. While they (the Soviets) may have once been considered liberators in 1945 their deeds and actions for the next 45 +years have more impact on more generations of people that lived behind the Iron Curtain. I'm not saying that vandalizing these monuments is a good thing, but I can understand how the Eastern Europeans see what Russia is currently doing with what the Soviet Union did to them in the past. ^

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-wants-bulgarians-to-stop-vandalizing-soviet-monuments/505354.html