Тhe first people to arrive at the crime scene were not the police. It was Borislav Sarafov, the controversial interim chief prosecutor, and members of the DANS, or National Security Agency. None of them should have been there. Murder in Bulgaria is usually a matter for the homicide cops – unless national security, terrorism, drug enforcement or exceptional circumstances warrant the involvement of the DANS.
It is natural for people arriving in a completely unknown culture to err left, right and centre, but if you abide by the precepts of this brief, yet helpful guide, you will at least not make a complete fool of yourself. Girdle up your loins and prepare for a tough negotiation with Bulgaria's habits, whims, quirks and body language.
1. Plenty of "spaghetti sauce"?
Somewhat misleadingly for anyone unfamiliar with the fine details of Bulgarian politics, Bulgaria's "right wing" likes to identify itself as being liberal, pro-Western, anti-Russian and "democratic." There isn't too much common ground between the various parties and groupings that make up the Bulgarian "right wing." Albeit currently being in a coalition with each other, the DSB, or Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (led by Gen Atanas Atanasov), the DB, or Yes Bulgaria (of Bozhidar Bozhanov and Ivaylo Mirchev), and the PP, or Changes Continued (of Kiril Petkov and Asen Vasilev), have varying v
Wittingly or not, President Rumen Radev joined forces with the extremist Vazrazhdane, or Revival, party. Without any immediate motive but with a sense of urgency he called for a referendum on whether Bulgaria should adopt the euro. Just a few years previously, Radev was a staunch opponent of any such referendum. What caused the volte-face?
Play and physical activity are essential for early childhood development. Yet around 4,000 children living in Fakulteta, one of the largest Roma neighbourhoods in Bulgaria and in the EU in general, lack proper, safe places to run, climb, skate, slide, explore the world and socialise with their peers.
When Bulgarians went to the ballots in October 2024 in what was the seventh snap election in the course of three years, as few as 16.5 percent, according to a poll, thought the election would be free and fair. It wasn't, the Constitutional Court ruled in March 2025. As a result, several parties lost a number of their MPs and the National Assembly had a newcomer, a political grouping calling itself Grandeur.
Аs President Donald Trump's sweeping and at times apparently controversial actions cause at best raised eyebrows in Europe, Bulgarians have found a new dividing line: whether to approve of the American President, the "new sheriff in town," as his VP J. D. Vance has called him, or to join the chorus of the acrimonious critics who increasingly denounce him as a new Hitler.
In Joseph Heller's timeless masterpiece, Catch 22, there is a minor character named Major Major Major Major. Major Major Major Major Major has a father, whom Heller describes as a "God-fearing, freedom-loving, law-abiding rugged individualist... who advocates thrift and hard work, and disapproves of loose women who turn him down." Catch 22 was a very popular book in Communist Bulgaria because those who read it did not have to be very imaginative to see the obvious parallels with real life this side of the Iron Curtain.
Predictably, the 27 October snap ballot – the 7th in three years – failed to elect a viable parliament capable of producing a long-term government. With a turnout of just over 38 percent – slightly higher than the pervious election in June 2024 – it took about 10,700 votes for an MP to get elected.
As Bulgaria is heading for a seventh snap election in just three years, two events mark the month of August, which is traditionally seen as a holiday season for working Bulgarians. Whilst Sofia has been going through repeated heat waves, the Constitutional Court judges repealed most of the much-hailed but apparently ill-thought-out Constitutional reforms passed last year in a rare show of agreement between Boyko Borisov's GERB, the DPS, or Movement for Rights and Freedoms, and the PP-DB-DSB, or Changes Continued-Yes Bulgaria-Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria.