'Doner Diplomacy' May Cost Borisov 15 000 Votes of Arab Bulgarians

Bulgarian PM Borisov's "doner diplomacy" comment has placed him in disrepute with Arab Bulgarians. Photo by BGNES

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov must apologize to the Arab community in Bulgaria for a recent statement associating Arabs with terrorism and doner kebab shops, according to Bulgaria-Based Egyptian Journalist Mohamed Kamal Alam.

Alam told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) he believes Borisov statement might cost him the support of some 15 000 Bulgarian voters of Arab origin.

Borisov's statement came in the wake of the recent suicide terrorist attack at the Domodedovo Airport in Moscow. While on a visit in Japan, he commented that "Bulgaria is under no threat of terrorist attacks over its balanced foreign policy and good relations with the Arab world. We maintain friendly relations with Palestine, with all Arab countries. The Arab world is doing business in Bulgaria; there are doner kebab shops on every street corner."

The PM's statement about doner kebab and Arabs, which was probably meant as a kind of joke in his typical style of expression, has drawn much criticism in Bulgaria.

While commenting on the situation in Egypt, Egyptian journalist Mohamed Kamal Alam, who has been living in Sofia for 24 years, stated that Borisov must apologize to the Arab Bulgarians.

"We know his style of talking and that he was probably joking but this is a joke that hurts... I think that Boyko Borisov can lose the votes of the Arabs in Bulgaria, which are about 15 000 votes. The Bulgarian citizens of Arab origin traditionally support the Bulgarian Socialist Party. But when Borisov emerged a couple of years ago, the overwhelming majority of them voted for him," Alam said.

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