Gabrovo: A Boiling Point

And this spring, Gabrovo made national news—not because of the ritual cutting of a cat’s tail, something that will take place later this week during the traditional Gabrovo Carnival, but because yet another domestic conflict involving Roma was once again transformed into an interethnic one.

What actually happened in Gabrovo? Hardly anyone can give a precise answer to this question. At this point, only a few things are clear. First, on May 6, a brawl broke out between a family of local Gabrovo Roma and Muslim Roma from Kazanlak who currently live in Gabrovo. Children were injured
in the incident. This further escalated the tension.

Second, the brawl that erupted was in no way related to interethnic tension, and no members of the majority population were involved. It involved individuals who displayed aggression, which provoked a reaction of aggression.

Third, despite this, ethnic tension quickly builds up and rumors begin to spread that this is a conflict between Bulgarians and Roma. A political undertone is further added. The scenario has already been tested—something repeated 100 times on social media becomes an established fact. As a result, protests similar to those of 2019 begin. The rapid mobilization, the quickly organized protests, and the emergence of anti-Roma rhetoric are surprising in a city where, according to official data from the latest census, there are 157 Roma (local Gabrovo Roma who self-identify as such), although expert estimates put the number closer to 500 (including Muslim Roma who have relocated from Kazanlak). There is no Roma neighborhood in Gabrovo, nor is there a ghetto-like concentration as in Plovdiv, Varna, or Sofia. Roma live in all neighborhoods alongside people of other ethnicities.

Added to this is an “accidentally” leaked order from Gabrovo Mayor Tanya Hristova, according to which a group of residents (here, for the sake of personal data protection, no specific names can be mentioned) receive a temporary registration —a standard practice that was one of the major achievements of civil society organizations, enabling students without an address registration to obtain an official one and, consequently, ID cards, so they could take the national high school graduation exams. In addition, it turns out that some of these families have not lived there for a long
time and do not need official registration.

The family at the center of the conflict—without it being fair to say they are at fault—is quickly “punished” by being evicted from the municipal housing they occupy. The children, who were already not attending school regularly, are now not in school at all—whether they will continue to
attend school is clearly of no concern to anyone.

It is striking how much this case and the way things are unfolding resemble the conflict from 2019, when once again a domestic incident quickly escalated into interethnic tension and anti-Roma rhetoric. This is followed by symbolic actions (which are not definitive)—street cleaners who must do their jobs, accompanied by the gendarmerie; police/gendarmerie guarding some of the families (inside their own homes (!)), and citizens who have been evicted from municipal housing. And again—none of those speaking in the media we re present at the scene during the incident; none of
them are from the communities that are affected.

It is obvious that what happened did not arise as an interethnic conflict. At the same time, it is clear that there is tension in Gabrovo, and it is deepening rather than being addressed And here, the questions far outnumber the answers:

Who is orchestrating what is happening: a conflict that began as a domestic dispute—with no participants from the majority group—being presented as interethnic, followed by the escalation of tension, the organization of protests, and the escalation of aggression?
Are there children who have been kept out of school as a result of the conflict, and what actions are
the institutions taking?

Do the ongoing events threaten the desegregation process in the municipality, where Roma children attend all schools in the city, and what measures have been taken to prevent this?

What is being done to promote Roma integration beyond campaign-style actions when conflicts
arise?
What is being done to foster tolerance and prevent anti-Roma attitudes and sentiments? Will there be consequences for those who attempt to create tension online and offline?

Undoubtedly, those who have shown aggression must be sanctioned, but at the same time, those who provoke ethnic tension must also be held accountable.

For more on the events of 2019, see here and here (note the differences between 2019 and 2026)

Picture: Gabrovo Municipality