“All your ideals died in Gaza”, read one of the protest banners at a crowded rally in Sofia in support of the victims in Palestine last Sunday. The demonstration had a different nuance this time because it also held as a commemoration of the memory of a Bulgarian who perished in the Palestinian enclave: UN worker and captain Marin Marinov. His death brought back the uneasy topic of the war in local media (usually told through only basic news updates and with only a handful of more analytical voices) but left the bitter taste of being ignored by Bulgaria’s political leadership, officially supportive and non-critical of Israel’s policy and at the same rarely commenting on the war or its consequences. The unsolved questions and the lack of incentive from the government to find out more about what happened only raise more distrust.
Who is UN’s Marin Marinov
Marinov was killed on March 19 in a protected UN guesthouse, allegedly after an Israeli airstrike at in Deir al Balah, central Gaza, which left five other of his colleagues at the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) severely injured after the explosion at 11:30 am.
Not much was known about Marinov at the time of his death on March 19 as his humanitarian work was not public knowledge. In the United Nation’s obituary, it’s stated that “Marin first joined UNOPS in 2016 as Maritime Inspector for the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen. After a period with the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Marin rejoined UNOPS in Gaza last year, working with the UN2720 Mechanism for Gaza, supporting the delivery of life-saving aid to the civilian population.”
His colleagues remember him as “a seasoned mariner and vessel Master, Marin will be remembered for his warmth and kindness, his team spirit, and his dedication to helping those in need throughout the world.” He left behind a wife and two children.
Chronology of a failed response
The passing of humanitarian UN worker Marin Marinov in ravaged Gaza caught Bulgaria in a diplomatic dilemma. It made politicians talk about a subject they very rarely comment on: the Israel-Hamas war (despite a fast mission to bring in Bulgaria citizens from Palestine with dual citizenship in the autumn of 2023, the topic on the war then became almost non-existent in the local media space).
Marinov’s death was followed by clumsy political statements and an unsure media response, which only fueled speculations and authority distrust.
On the same day, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that a Bulgarian citizen had died in Gaza. With the case reaching social media, partial details around Marinov, including his name, made their way to the public. On March 20, a local website on military news, analysis, and infographics, De Re Militari, identified that the location of the airstrike corresponded with Israeli activity at the same time and the use of M339, a 120mm high-explosive.
It wasn’t until March 22 when Bulgarian politicians started reacting: Foreign Affairs Minister Georg Georgiev told local media that "So far, the available information does not tilt the scales in any direction, and this is not considered to be a deliberate attack”. Georgiev also stated that Israel would conduct an investigation as Bulgaria doesn’t have resources to carry its own in the current situation. "My colleague, the Israeli Foreign Minister, took on the commitment in the first hours following the tragic event.”
Also on March 22, Israel ambassador Yosef Levi Sfari expressed condolences but clarified that "following a thorough investigation by the Israel Defense Forces, it was confirmed that no Israeli military activity was taking place in the area at the time of the incident involving the deceased Captain Marin Marinov and no attack was detected", adding that no major organisation has identified Israel as the one to initiate the strike.
This changed on March 25 when UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric openly pointed to IDF as the ones that caused the explosion. Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs then expressed “deep concerns” while Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov opted for a generic statement that further investigations would be made.
Meanwhile, although such a version was not commented on by officials or any media, in Bulgarian pro-Israel social media groups and posts, Marinov’s death was commented on as a consequence of а Hamas landmine placed near the UN guesthouses.
On March 28, Palestine ambassador in Bulgaria Nasri Khalil Salim Abu Jaish also discussed Marinov’s death in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio in the context of being a result of an Israeli strike. “We always refer to him as the Bulgarian hero”, said Madbouh. “Only UN has the legitimacy of carrying out an investigation, this can’t be the case with Israel as the one to initiate the strikes.”
As pro-Western politicians tended to avoid the Gaza War topic, the pro-Russians took control of the narrative
Ever since the escalation in Gaza after Hamas’ attacks in Israel on October 7 2023, Bulgaria has showcased a firm pro-Israel stance, even if the subject of the Gaza war has rarely received any attention from local politicians. In most cases, events around the conflict pass without official comments – a diplomatic line that can be traced through most of the Balkan countries.
In this way, through either generic statements or never taking a stand, pro-EU voices in Bulgaria’s parliament paved the way for the pro-Russia and West-skeptic voices to control the narrative.
The only party in Bulgaria to openly comment on Marinov’s death is pro-Kremlin far-right party Revival, who called for a deeper investigation and has also accused Israel of the explosion, even threatening to initiate a no-confidence vote against the current coalition (for Revival this holds a certain contradiction, as it’s also a party which has been critical to Muslim presence in Europe and Brussel’s refugee policy).
President Rumen Radev, known for his own softer positions to Moscow and against further military aid to Ukraine, was recently critical to the coalition response to just follow Israel’s word: "The first position of the government cannot be to just rely on information from only one side, and that side to be part of the conflict.” Radev called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza on September 25 during a UN meeting, on April 14 stated that he hopes for a peaceful resolution of “the conflict in the Middle East” amid the escalation between Iran and Israel, and on January 16 met with the Palestine ambassador – these fragmented statements are among the isolated cases where local politicians have expressing concern.
In many ways, Marinov’s death pressured Bulgaria’s government to find ways to comment on a war they’ve been stubbornly silent on, whether because of strictly following the established official line or because it is less relevant to the public in comparison with other events. But it also highlighted the repeated failure of the ruling class to answer society’s questions and worries. For local voters, the lines between liberal, conservative, and radical are continuously blurring as in this case, they are united by the lack of strong reactions and relevant messages.
This only serves disinformation actors, seizing control of the narrative: as silence surrounds events and victims in Gaza, it’s the anti-West voices filling in and taking hold, using the war as a way to seed further distrust in already polarised territory such as Bulgaria. For the people marching on the streets, there’s no political representation and none in sight. Marinov’s death has become a sad reminder of that.
