Angel Yanchev, an MP for Vazrazhdane, has called from the parliamentary podium for work to stop on the Freedom Monument on Shipka Peak. The repairs affect the paving, the glazing and the permanent exhibit, and Yanchev says they should be frozen until an independent expert check is done and the decision is made public in full.
The MP demanded to know exactly when the scaffolding and vinyl sheeting went up around the monument. He also asked for a plan for the 150th anniversary of the Russo-Turkish war of liberation and the Battle of Shipka Pass, marked in 2027. He says the culture ministry owes lawmakers a timetable, a report on which parts have been removed, and an open discussion about the future of the museum exhibit.
The Shipka project was approved in 2023, Yanchev noted. Changes to the museum exhibit were signed off in April 2026, under the caretaker government led by prime minister Andrey Gyurov. In July, Rumen Radev's government gave more than 3.15m euros to tear down parts of the Freedom Monument. The building site opened on 3 September. Carrying out the project is now a political responsibility of Radev's cabinet, the MP said. The government cannot hide behind the signatures of previous cabinets — it is the one paying for the repair and restoration work.
The culture minister told MPs that the monument is now covered by scaffolding, vinyl sheeting and five layers of wrapping. But when asked when the monument would be fully visible again, the minister would not give a date. A written reply dated 18 September claims the contractor's schedule is a trade secret, Yanchev said. "They don't dare admit that Shipka has probably been handed over for the next five years to a firm that does shoddy insulation jobs on tower blocks," he said.
Yanchev also said the culture ministry is proposing QR codes to give visitors digital access to information about the site. He said the plan to "rethink" the exhibit, built into the project and expanded by the ministry, goes against the monument's entire history — he says there have never been any rethinks there, only additions and improvements. Such a change, the MP said, should only happen if clear historical errors are found, backed by solid, specific evidence — and none has been given. "Apparently someone claims the exhibit has flaws in its concept and theme, so let them say what they are," Yanchev said.
The Vazrazhdane MP also asked how the monument's inside spaces would be protected from snowstorms, heavy rain or snow. He asked for the independent expert report to be published, to prove the current repair plan is safe for the monument itself.