FORUM

There was a time when the job of this country's "right wing" parties was easy. It was enough for their leaders to protest anti-Communism. Everything that had gone wrong in this country was due to the Communist-era State Security, the secret police that was disbanded a few months after the 1989 collapse of Communism, but that, according to the rightwing leaders, continued to pull the string of everything that made any money in the Bulgaria of the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Whenever they had nothing else to offer to their voters, the "right wingers" claimed "lustration" was in order.

Bulgarians have never been so dissatisfied with their elected politicians. At the 19 April election, the eighth in five years, both the turnout of about 40 percent (extremely low in Western but relatively high in Bulgarian standards) and the voting pattern suggest that that this time around a genuine change may be in the offing. Here are the key takeaways.

If opinion polls are anything to go by (and in Bulgaria they usually aren't), the next snap election, scheduled for 19 April, will produce a less fragmented parliament. If this does happen, the country may be in for a period of relative political stability, something which the constant bickering in Bulgarian politics has deprived citizens of since the beginning of the current bout of snap elections.

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.