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On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the overthrow of the communist regime in Bulgaria, the author, who was the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Bulgaria (1990-1997), looks back on the events of the time before and after the resigning of Todor Zhivkov on 10 November 1989. Unlike other member states of the Soviet Bloc, in Bulgaria there had been no uprisings or anti-communist strikes after World War II. With the communists making use of the prevalent. Russophile feeling in the country, before 1988 there were no organized actions in order to topple the regime. Later, the Bulgarians with their knowledge of the Russian language became witnesses of Glasnost and Perestroika in Russia as reported in the Russian media. At the wake of the great changes at the end of 1989 in Bulgaria, there was an organized anti-communist opposition. The author presents a chronology of the establishment of the democratic opposition with its civic organizations and political parties. He determinedly opposes to the stipulation (which to his opinion has sometimes been made on purpose) that only the fall of Zhivkov was the starting point for the formation of a democratic movement in Bulgaria. He also resolutely contests the assertion that the Union of Democratic Forces was created or bred by security forces or the Bulgarian Communist Party. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis presents the main publications from Romania's radical right that played an important role in shaping public opinion after 1990. At the organizational level the Romanian radical nationalist scene has remained divided, mainly for reasons of political and ideological strife. But political ideas, concepts of the racist or anti-Semitic ideology and historical interpretations that reflect the universe of thought belonging to the radical right in Romania have been disseminated through the media over the past years. In this context, the present synthesis focuses on several newspapers, films and books popularizing ideas borrowed from the fascist ideology of the inter war Iron Guard, as well as current forms of Holocaust denial, closely related to the attempts of the legal and moral rehabilitation of the dictator Ion Antonescu, a key ally of Hitler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first, historical part of the article the author covers Slovenia's efforts to develop towards an independent and free state. The extremely conflictive situation during the Second World War, when the nation decided between waiting and fighting against the occupational forces (fascism and Nazism), was used by the communist totalitarian system for starting a revolution. Individuals and groups were entering into different compromises which have been burdening the development of democracy in Slovenia until today. Social changes twenty years ago took place rather peacefully and with relatively few casualties. The social order was changed, but forms of thinking and acting, imparted by the communist Titoism, remained. In the last years, under the protection of left-of-centre political forces, different forms of revitalization of old symbols and attempts to revive the communist social order have emerged. Slovenia has not performed the paradigm shift from the totalitarian attitude towards the state into the democratic attitude towards the citizens. The burdened history as well as the remaining and revitalised communist social paradigm effect the unawareness of the people and their political culture. The latter is confirmed by public opinion researches at home and abroad. Twenty years after the democratic changes Slovenian democracy is fragile and vulnerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay refers to the different ways of reflecting the past and of dealing with the new political, social and economic conditions and realities in the post-communist countries after 1989 using the example of Romania. As for the totalitarian systems people had lived in until 1989, both their life style and mentality had to be changed within a few years towards an open society with democracy, pluralism, free market economy and a competition system in all ranks. Living conditions have changed radically, therefore people are still searching for a new identity. Since 1990, many people have based their lives exclusively on economical success. Egoism, dog-eat-dog-society and loss of social competence and thinking have been accepted as new circumstances and adverse effects in politics, economics and society. Thus, after the communist ideology people are now confronted with the Western ideas of materialism and consumerism in the sense of a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods. On the other hand there also exists a considerable religious boom, especially in Romania. The Churches play a stabilizing role offering orientation and moral stability, asking for political and social justice and the conservation of traditional values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]