For Bulgaria, 2025 came in like a whirlwind.
Although that’s in unison with the events all around the world, in just two months, Bulgaria got a wide coalition with the outlook to be long-term after a three-year election cycle. Still, one that is giving little hope for actual reforms and reinstates GERB and its leader Boyko Borissov (now governing through PM Rosen Zhelyazkov as a fresh face for change), which have a tarnished reputation. Meanwhile, the unstable situation in Ukraine provoked a wave of fears in social media and among the EU-sceptic factions about the deployment of Bulgarian troops in Ukraine. The parliament made an awkward step to calm down speculations by voting on February 21 against any peacekeeping operation despite no formal talks on the matter.
In other developments, both the cabinet and the pro-Russia faction of its opposition appeared surprisingly close, especially in their treatment of critical media.
Wag the dog
The shift in power in the US and following shakedowns in Europe have brought even more conservative rhetoric than usual among the local politicians, with “keeping our national interest” becoming key words in politicians’ briefings – the words which informed the pro-Russia narratives around 2022-2023 and the demand for neutrality, are now adopted by the parties who want the country to appear in a somehow safe limbo between action and formal presence in the EU (and coincidentally, the “national interest” is something Trump also turned into a key word in regards of his immigration policy).
Currently, both the ruling coalition – featuring GERB, pro-Kremlin Bulgarian Socialist Party, nationalists There’s Such People, with the silent support in the parliament from the ‘Alliance for Rights and Freedoms’, ARF, one of the two parties to emerge from the split in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, a controversial party relying on votes from the Turkish community – and the pro-Russia opposition (mainly ultranationalists Revival and to lesser extent, nationalist newcomers Moral, Unity, Honour) are benefiting from the conflicting dynamics. At times, despite being at odds on geopolitical grounds, they sound surprisingly the same.
GERB leader and former PM Boyko Borissov tuned in the narrative that the reduction of US funds under the Donald Trump administration will help skewed perspective on people in power: on February 6, he shrugged away criticisms on the yet to be accepted state budget claiming that it’s only coming from “media who take grants, big grants, bigger than the subsidies that parties have [...] I’ve checked that myself” and journalists who “have big wages, they are much richer than the ministers”.
In this way, Borissov came close to the Revival’s rulebook and their ambition to pass a Kremlin-styled ‘foreign agents’ bill, so far unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, despite a pro-EU and pro-US makeover, media tycoon and current leader of MRF - New Beggining party Delyan Peevski welcomed Trump’s decrees and possible consequences in the Bulgarian media landscape: on January 30, Peevski said that if he is in direct power, he would “clean” Bulgaria out of the “sorosoids”.
The Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria was quick to react to the synchrony in the statements by Revival’s Kostadin Kostadinov, GERB’s Boyko Borissov and MRF-New Beginning’s Delyan Peevski. “Although seemingly coming from opposing political positions, all three sang in unison against the so-called "Sorosoids" (a well-known term coined by Russian propaganda) and media receiving grant funding. Traditionally, their verbal attacks are reinforced by a mud-throwing campaign in the media outlets close to them, containing “controversial” revelations based on fully public information about the beneficiaries of international funding in the country, mixed with outright untruths.”
Ideological clashes on the street showcase inner parliament dynamics
Although big protests and reformists movements are currently not part of the climate in Bulgaria – and their absence often explained through a weakened citizen energy and passive acceptance of the new political status quo – several eruptions made it clear that pro-Russian provocations will likely be more present and get more radical, especially with Bulgaria moving closer to the adoption of the singular euro currency (a narrative set to gradually become more pronounced since 2022).
On February 21, Sofia was rocked by three protests: an annual nationalist march which traditionally gathers many of the far-right factions which commemorates controversial Bulgarian general Hristo Lukov (1887-1944), an antifa march held in response to it; and separately, the pro-Russian Revival party brought a small but aggressive crowd in central Sofia to create havoc: the entrance door of Sofia’s European Commission HQ was set on fire during a protest against Bulgaria adopting the euro currency, the flag of the European Union were also demonstratively burnt, while red blood was thrown on the glass facade of the building. According to the authorities, ten policemen sustained injuries during the protest and six participants in the demonstrations were arrested, two of them later released because of their political immunity. One of the two was later identified as MP Ivaylo Chorbov (he was arrested while masked, with dark glasses, and pictured in the local press with a hammer in hand trying to vandalize the building).
On Monday, Democratic Bulgaria member and former national security director Atanas Atanasov described in a TV interview the Revival protest as “an obvious Russian hybrid attack” and “a fascist demonstration”. The same day, The Sofia District Court permanently remanded four of the accused for hooliganism in custody; the decision can be appealed.
In comments on social media, there has been widespread frustration that police forces could not calm down the aggressive protesters when in the past, peaceful demonstrations in the past have been curbed with violence. In turn, Revival has claimed police were violent to their supporters.
The Revival party, which entered the parliament in 2021, has been associated with several other protest escalations in recent years/ As a matter of fact, the February 21 attack was the second of its type; the representation of the European Commission was also vandalised by Revival supporters in 2023, at the time during a ‘peace march’.
On February 27, the parties with the most nationalistic swing (Bulgarian Socialist Party; Moral, Unity, Honour and There’s Such a People) abstained from supporting a parliament declaration criticising the actions of Revival for “undermining the democratic rule of law in Bulgaria and diverting it from its European path”.
Meanwhile, the soft-on-Kremlin President Rumen Radev and Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov have not commented on the recent events.
