Bulgaria is commented that we are the first country in terms of Covid-19 mortality in the European Union. What puzzles me is the extremely low number of people vaccinated in a country where education and culture are highly valued. However, it seems that fraud is spreading about the consequences of vaccination. This was stated in an interview with the renowned Spanish magazine “Vanitatis” Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. We present you an excerpt from it.
– In 2014 you published your biographical book “An Extraordinary Fate”. Will you leave a testimony of how the years have passed since then?
“In the interest of truth, I wrote it in such a way that a life as special as mine could be told in the first person, not by others.” I also did it, thinking about my children and grandchildren, so that they would know what I have dedicated my life to and thus understand my full devotion to Bulgaria. By the way, the book has been published in Bulgarian, Spanish, Italian, French, Greek, Portuguese and Turkish. It will soon be published in English with an additional chapter in which I tell about some events that happened after 2014.
– There are many reasons to go down in history, but you embody a unique situation: that of a king who later became prime minister of the republic.
– Indeed, my case is unprecedented. The king appeared and won the parliamentary elections and was elected Prime Minister of the Republic. Another similar case, albeit with some chronological differences, is that of King Sihanouk of Cambodia. What happened to Napoleon III was something else.
– The pandemic hit the whole world brutally. How did you survive this difficult period?
– With the worries and limitations of everyone else. Bulgaria is commented that we are the first country in terms of Covid-19 mortality in the European Union. What puzzles me is the extremely low number of people vaccinated in a country where education and culture are highly valued. However, it seems that fraud is spreading about the consequences of vaccination. I am sad to see such a difference between Portugal and Bulgaria, two countries located at both ends of Europe – in Portugal over 80% of the population are vaccinated, compared to only 22% in Bulgaria. I want to believe that common sense and civic example will prevail here as well, as in other countries.
– There are people who claim that the pandemic will bring out the best in ourselves. Do you share this opinion?
– I do not like to summarize, but honestly I think so. Examples of this are gestures of solidarity with medics, cases of mutual assistance, young people caring for the most vulnerable, and perhaps the collective awareness of the danger posed by this pandemic.
– What do you like to do in your free time?
– At 84, I would like to have more free time than other retirees. Unfortunately, many people underestimate my age, which keeps me still quite active. I have always been an avid reader. I would like to have more hours to devote to this passion. As I talk to Vanitatis, I allow myself some vanity by sharing that I have read about 3,000 books in seven languages. Most of them are historical, biographical and theological.
You can see the whole interview under the original title in Spanish: Simeón
de Bulgaria, “LAS FALSEDADES QUE SE HAYAN DICHO SOBRE MÍ SON GAJES DEL OFICIO”
