Francesco Trupia delivered a presentation at the international conference

Francesco Trupia delivered a presentation titled "Whose Heroes? The Paradox of Non/Commemoration of the Interwar Period in Bulgaria and Ukraine" at the international conference "The (Non)Commemoration of Heritage of Eastern Europe" organized by the Institute of European Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.
Trupia focused on the national memoryscapes of Bulgaria and Ukraine, looking precisely at how two highly contested historical figures, Hristo Lukov and Stepan Bandera, respectively, have been rehabilitated in today's political discourse. He showed how the rehabilitation, commemoration, and popularisation of these "heroes" have sparked anger among civil society and academia. As paradoxical as it may seem, the "political heirs" of Lukov and Bandera are trapped in a paradox: they praise a stronger and independent nation, but their political values contradict those of 'the West' and the European Union. Trupia also contends that the commemoration events are carried out by the new far-/ alt-right groups to tailor a "template of opportunity." Here, the memories of Lukov and Bandera are exploited to advocate for a "one-ethnic nation" able to fight those who sow division – be they LGBTQ, Jews, multiculturalists, the left, and other actors alike.