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For Dnevnik, the clashes between the people of the village of Katounitsa in the south of the country and its large Roma community amount to a “peaceful crisis.” The crisis erupted on September 24 after a minibus carrying relatives of the patriarch of the local Roma, Kiril Rachkov, nicknamed “King Kiro”, ran over and killed a young Bulgarian man. Relatives and friends of the victim then stormed Rachkov’s house, setting it on fire. A second youth who took part in the event died the next day of a heart attack.
The unrest of the past few days has revived tensions between ethnic Bulgarians and the clan of “King Kiro,” whom they accuse of lording it over Katounitsa, having amassed a considerable fortune by not paying any income tax. He is also accused of enjoying the protection of the police, writes Dnevnik. However, the authorities and the local population are avoiding talk of an “ethnic conflict”. Clashes between youths and police also took place on September 26 in Sofia, adds the newspaper, where a thousand people gathered through a Facebook page devoted to “Death to King Kiro“ were met by police near Parliament.
A conversation with investigative reporters Stefano Valentino and Giorgio Michalopoulos, who have dissected the dark underbelly of green finance for Voxeurop and won several awards for their work.
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