US vs EU?

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.

First, the critics. Like their peers in Western Europe, many Bulgarians of "liberal" inclinations see Donald Trump as a political go-getter who has no empathy for the weak, but would rather use force to cosh them into submission. Trump is trying to run the United States and the world as a corporation, the critics intone. He offends his allies in Europe and North America. He appears to be at least benign to Putin's Russia, which all of America's NATO allies in Europe, including the United States itself during the previous administration, view as the biggest post-Second World War threat worldwide.

Trump, his critics say, has no problem threatening one of America's most loyal allies, Denmark, over Greenland, and vexing the US northern neighbour, Canada, by telling the Canadians they should become a state of the United States – while suggesting Ukraine should give up the territories invaded by Russia in exchange for peace – or rare ores.

Probably because it is fairly small and insignificant against the background of the wealthy nations in Western Europe, Bulgaria has so far not been mentioned by Trump, at least not directly. But his stance on the EU in general and NATO in particular will of course have its consequences on the Bulgarians as well.

The majority of the people who applaud the new US administration belong to one particular party, Vazrazhdane, or Revival, led by Kostadin "Kostya Kopeykin" Kostadinov. Known for its unabashed support for Putin and Russia, Kostadinov opposes the introduction of the euro, demands a referendum on EU and NATO membership, and threatens to bill anyone who works for a foreign-sponsored NGO or media organisation a "foreign agent." Having garnered just under 14 percent of the popular vote in the October 2024 ballot, Vazrazhdane is currently the third, or maybe even the second, party in the National Assembly. Bulgaria's Vazrazhdane can be compared to Marine Le Pen's National Rally in France, the Alternativ für Deutschland in Germany and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, with which it maintains contacts.

Kostadinov's demands are often radical and appeal to a mixed bag of people – from working-class Bulgarians, whom he tells not adopting the euro will actually be good for the economy, to middle-class people, who feel disenfranchised by this country's perceived inability to tackle their problems and lend an ear to Kostadinov's repeated assertions the EU, NATO and the West in general threaten Bulgarian national identity and culture.

Kostadin Kostadinov's Vazrazhdane may charm some voters, but it is unlikely to ever acquire sufficient support to surpass the 20 percent psychological threshold. So far, none of the more traditional political parties in Bulgaria have indicated they would talk with Vazrazhdane. In spite of his fervid rhetoric, Kostadin Kostadinov will probably remain a fringe player whose bark is worse than his bite.

Kostadinov and his ilk are among the Bulgarians who jubilate Trump's accession, especially when the American President, or senior officials in the administration, slam the EU for "curtailing freedom of speech" and "ignoring the will of the people." Exactly the same talk can be heard in Bulgaria when some media outlets are reluctant to include Kostadinov.

One of the senior public figures who apparently tries to balance his views is President Rumen Radev. A former Air Force general, Radev seems to welcome a more "realistic" position on Russia. This speaks a lot in a country where sympathies for Russia, mainly a leftover from the propaganda of the Communist period, run high. While not exactly a populist, President Radev usually likes to take middle-ground positions, perhaps largely owing to his Constitutional role of being a president of all Bulgarians.

But is Trump's position on Russia middle-ground? What seems to be a majority of local analysts, who now vie to express their opinions in the TV and radio studios, tend to disagree. If I come and take your flat and then return just half of it, this is not peace. It is hostage-taking, one analyst said.
Others decry what they bill "the beginning of the end" of the EU and NATO.

Interestingly, political leaders such as Boyko Borisov, the leader of GERB, seem to be "flipping the pancake," as the vernacular saying goes, with masterful agility. While in the past Borisov swore by Angela Merkel and kowtowed to Ursula von der Leyen, he and his followers now seem to be taking heed that Europe, including Bulgaria, must urgently reform itself and that it must build a security apparatus of its own.

Few if any of the local pundits mention the fact that President Trump was actually elected in a popular vote – in what, despite its many faults and setbacks, remains the most developed democracy in the world. Even fewer of those who are now surprised remember that most of Trump's ideas were actually well-thoughtover and put in writing, with the assistance of the Heritage Foundation, in the notorious Project 2025. Trump is now just making good on his election promises.

For at least his four-year term in office President Trump will likely continue to ruffle feathers the world over, and Bulgaria will not be excluded. But it remains to be seen to what extent US domestic politics will influence the domestic politics of a country like Bulgaria. Similarly, it remains to be seen to what extent President Trump's actions will impact the post-Second World War order that the West has become comfortably accustomed to.