Bulgaria dismantles a Soviet army monument that has dominated the Sofia skyline since 1954

The monument was erected in 1954 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Soviet forces entering Bulgaria, which had been allied with Nazi Germany in World War II. Their arrival in 1944 marked the beginning of 45 years of hardline Communist rule. Following the collapse of communism in 1989, the local council in Sofia voted to remove the monument, but successive governments shied away from taking the final step. Vyara Todeva, regional governor of Sofia, said that for 70 years the monument was never restored and serious cracks had appeared in the figures.