TEPAV Foreign Policy Analyst Erhan Türbedar assessed the underlying causes of tension that escalated in Bulgaria following the death of a young man by a Roma-origin Bulgarian.

The commentary assessed:

"The incidents of violence and protest demonstrations in Bulgaria which also draw the attention of the international community have some ethnic, psychological and socio-economic elements besides their political dimension. The incidents which broke out in the village of Katunitsa have caused the years long pent-up ethnic tension and intolerance of anti-Roma to surface. Bulgaria has bragged for years on end about having an ethnic model allowing communities of different ethnicity to co-habit in an exemplary manner. However, the latest incidents in Bulgaria have shed light on the incumbent ethnic problems feeding the nationalist parties..."

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