Bulgaria–United States relations to work. Bulgaria became a member of the Warsaw Pact on May 14, 1955. Though no Soviet troops were stationed on Bulgarian soil, in 1968, Zhivkov sent a Bulgarian division to join Polish, Hungarian and Soviet troops to crush a popular uprising in Prague. In 1978, the Bulgarian secret police were implicated in the assassination in London of Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian dissident who was a correspondent for the BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle radio and the U.S. sponsored Radio Free Europe. Markov was assassinated with a poisoned umbrella on September 7, Zhivkov's birthday. The rise of democratic movements across
Umbrella (song) Manic Street Preachers produced their own version of "Umbrella", which was originally recorded for the album "NME Awards 2008". Produced in celebration of the Shockwaves NME Awards 2008 and Big Gig, that album was given free with a special souvenir box set of the magazine "NME" on February 27. Two additional versions (acoustic and Grand Slam mix) were later made available on iTunes, and the trio is now released together on an "Umbrella EP"; a video for the cover is available on the band's official website. British pop rock band McFly performed their own version of "Umbrella" during their Greatest