27 Facts About Volen Siderov

Volen Nikolov Siderov is a Bulgarian far-right politician and chairman of the nationalist party Attack.

Volen Siderov has been the editor of numerous newspapers and has authored five books.

Volen Siderov received an undergraduate degree in Applied Photography in Sofia, and before the fall of Communism in 1989, worked at the National Literature Museum as a photographer.

Volen Siderov's brother, Dr Plamen Siderov, was a mathematician and lectured at Sofia University.

In 2000, Volen Siderov was presented with the award of the Union of the Bulgarian Journalists.

In 2002 Volen Siderov was invited to a controversial anti-globalisation conference in Moscow where he associated with people like Ahmed Rami and David Duke.

Volen Siderov reportedly espouses anti-Masonic conspiracy theories, claiming that Masons control the world through puppet regimes, international organizations, and the press.

Volen Siderov expressed respect to the Russian president Vladimir Putin, by visiting him on foot for his 60th birthday on 7 October 2012.

On 8 March 2013 Volen Siderov paid tribute to the deceased president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez at the Bolivarian republic's embassy in Sofia, where he called the revolutionary an 'example for the Bulgarian patriots as a statesman'.

Volen Siderov said that the treaty is invalid, because it was signed with Yugoslavia in 1919, a vanished state, and does not refer to the present-day Serbia or to North Macedonia and should be cancelled.

In September 2018, Volen Siderov met with Israeli MK Oren Hazan, a member of the Likud party, during the latter's visit to Bulgaria.

Hazan defended the meeting by noting that Volen Siderov "said he apologized for what he had said" about the Holocaust in the past, and Hazan then "told him he needed to do it publicly".

Volen Siderov has generated increasing controversy as Attack has improved at the polls.

Volen Siderov has been labeled xenophobic, and his persona has been called "a studied imitation of Hitler".

Volen Siderov has criticised the "symbiotic relationship" between established political parties and organised criminal groups.

Volen Siderov has spoken against the widespread discrimination against majority ethnic Bulgarians by their own state, particularly in relation to the alleged non-prosecution by the state of crimes committed by ethnic minorities and the free provision to certain ethnic groups of social services that have been denied to ordinary Bulgarians.

From time to time Volen Siderov is involved in scandals that include hooliganism.

Volen Siderov continued to speak even after being told to stop by moderators and even after his microphone was turned off.

Volen Siderov reacted to these actions by accusing the network of censorship.

Volen Siderov has been under legal investigation for encouraging citizens to violate the pandemic control measures.

In September 2019, Volen Siderov announced his resignation from Bulgaria's National Assembly, in order to run for the post of mayor of Sofia, Bulgaria's capital and largest city, in the 2019 Bulgarian local elections.

Volen Siderov claimed that homosexuality itself "did not interest" him and that homosexuals could have a private party instead, as he deemed the gay parade was only costing the Sofia Municipality excess money, as the local police is charged with guarding the event.

Volen Siderov stated that he would attempt to save money by creating a local, municipal-run construction company, which would handle public works, instead of auctioning them off to private companies.

Volen Siderov believes that with these measures, he could fund free bus passes for all retirees and schoolkids in Sofia.

Volen Siderov further pledged to "crush" street gangs and organized crime in Sofia in only 3 months, stating that voters were free to "have his head" if he did not fulfill this promise in time.

Volen Siderov was denied entry by the policemen guarding the arena and left after a long argument with the authorities, which told him that Bulgarian electoral law makes no provision for political candidates to monitor the counting process.

Volen Siderov's hobby is collecting books and various maps related to Bulgaria.