Peace Without Poison

Bulgaria started depopulation measures in 1949 as soon as Vulko Chervenkov (1949-1956) cameto power and 6 years prior to becoming a UN member state. The program was continued by hissuccessor, Todor Zhivkov (1954-1989), until 1968 when he shut it down only to resume it againten years later and continue it until the end of his presidency in 1989. The last leader ofcommunist Bulgaria, Petar Mladenov (1990-1990), continued where his predecessor left off.The program of depopulation was accelerated and intensified by the first non-communistpresident of Bulgaria, Zhelyu Zhelev (1990-1997), and by the end of his presidency the country’stotal fertility rate fell to the lowest low rate of 1.2 children per woman. Petar Stoyanov (1997-2002), Georgi Parvanov (2002-2012), and the incumbent President of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev(since January 2012), have continued to covertly subvert their people’s reproductive rights and todate Bulgaria has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world at 1.4 children per woman.121 | P a g e