Date: 1984.
First Published: As part of an address printed in
Bulgarian as part of The People and the Party are United, a Bulgarian-language
collection of articles and speeches by Konstantin Chernenko published by
Partizdat, the publishing house of the Bulgarian Communist Party.
Source: "Konstantin Chernenko's address to
Bulgarian readers". Soviet News, 12 December 1984, No.
6254, page 427.
The main subject common for all articles and speeches included in this book is the CPSU's policy at the present stage, which is that of developed socialism. We put much theoretical and practical meaning into the definition of the historical period, through which our society is going.
The essence of the matter, in brief, is as follows, ever since the victory of the Great October Revolution, our country has made tremendous progress in socialist creativity. The historical accomplishments of the Soviet people in building a new society have firmly strengthened the collective fundamentals of the socioeconomic foundation, on which our powerful economy has grown, the popular well-being has risen, socialist democracy has been broadly developed, socialist culture has flourished and all nations and peoples of our country have rallied in a close-knit fraternal family. The points at issue are, consequently, the large historical gains on the road of social progress.
The Leninist foreign policy of the CPSU and the Soviet State is permeated with the concern for preserving and strengthening peace on earth. In the present-day complicated and tense international situation our Party is doing its utmost to prevent a thermonuclear catastrophe and to ensure reliably the security of the USSR and its allies.
An event of great significance --the economic meeting of the CMEA member countries at summit level-- was held in Moscow in June this year. The decisions it unanimously carried will contribute towards a further socio-economic development of the fraternal countries, the start of development by them of a qualitatively new stage in the economic co-operation and socialist integration. They are a weighty contribution to strengthening the fundamentals of peace and peaceful coexistence, of equitable and mutually beneficial ties between all countries and peoples.
The Soviet people highly appreciate the active foreign policy line of People's Bulgaria. Soviet-Bulgarian friendship has become an important factor in strengthening peace in the Balkans, in creating a healthier political situation in the whole of Europe. It is an inseparable component part of the peaceable policy of the community of the socialist states opposing the imperialist policy of the arms race, of preparations of war and of state terrorism and violence.