Bulgarians sharply protested against the Czech decoration in the EU

Brussels/Sofia/Prague - The Czech ambassador to Bulgaria, Martin Klepetko, was invited today to an urgent meeting at the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was presented with a "sharp protest" from the Bulgarian side against the decor of the Czech presidency in the EU Council in Brussels. A Turkish toilet is depicted on the map of Bulgaria, which is part of a controversial art project. The Bulgarian permanent representation to the European Union also sharply criticized this portrayal in Brussels.
    The ambassador told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) that the head of the relevant territorial department at the Bulgarian ministry expressed "great indignation" over the way Bulgaria is presented in the project. The "sharp protest" was expressed orally, not in writing. The head of the department also indicated, according to Klepetko, further protest actions by Bulgaria both in Brussels and in Prague.
    According to Czech diplomacy, the ambassador was to explain that this is a work of art. "And however peculiar it is, its basis is humor, not ill intent," said Zuzana Opletalová, spokesperson for the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before Klepetko’s meeting with ČTK in Prague.
    The ambassador stated that he argued that the main idea of the entire project was to mock the barriers in people's minds, but added that "it is clear that at this moment, this argumentation will not help." He referred the Bulgarian side to the anticipated official position of Czech authorities. However, he admitted that "it is difficult to completely distance oneself from it when it is an official presentation" of the Czech presidency.
    Martin Klepetko, however, declared that he "firmly believes" that the incident will not affect Czech-Bulgarian relations, "at least that is what we were told." At the moment, he does not anticipate anything further from the authorities in Bulgaria and is only expecting to be contacted by dozens of Bulgarian journalists, as is already happening.
    The spokesperson for the Bulgarian representation in Brussels, Betina Jotevová, described the depiction of a Turkish toilet on the map of Bulgaria as very offensive. She claims to have already expressed her disagreement to Czech diplomats, and today the embassy is expected to send an official protest note to the Czech permanent representation.
    Nevertheless, Jotevová emphasized that she does not think that Czech-Bulgarian relations could be damaged because of this.
    The controversial art project, created for the headquarters of the EU Council in Brussels, was not prepared by 27 artists from all union countries together, but solely by Czech artist David Černý and his team. Černý reportedly informed the Czech Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Alexander Vondra, only on Monday. Vondra told the lidovky.cz server today that this information shocked him.
    In official promotional material, Černý states, among other things: "The artistic project created on the occasion of the Czech presidency in the Council of Europe seeks to present the whole of Europe from the perspective of 27 artists from individual EU member states. Their projects are united by a playful analysis of national stereotypes and the ability to characterize their own cultural identity originally."
    Today, Černý apologized to Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and several other government members for the fact that the Entropa project for the EU Council headquarters is not what he promised: the announced work of 27 European artists is the creation of him and a few collaborators. "Grotesque exaggeration and mystification are features of Czech culture, and creating false identities is one of the strategies of contemporary art," stated the authors in a press release sent to ČTK.
    On the giant map of Europe, for example, Austria, known for its opposition to nuclear energy, is depicted in such a way that more than half of its territory is covered by enormous cooling towers of nuclear power plants. The Netherlands, a significant portion of whose territory is located below sea level and is home to many immigrants, is portrayed as being covered by water, with only minarets protruding.
    The work has been completed since Monday; however, it will be fully operational only on Thursday, as some parts are movable.