Why Bulgaria is Headed for its 7th Election in 3 Years 

Bulgaria being stable for once challenge IMPOSSIBLE

Everyone expects Bulgaria's politics to be "insane" , even if they don't know the details. "Sane" politics would be newsworthy 🤷🏻‍♀️

At this rate Bulgarian political parties will depress voters until only those running for seats are doing the voting.

USA: Oh no we are having our once every 4 year election, this is is so Tense Bulgaria: Amateurs.

The most interesting thing about this whole debacle is that the country has performed quite well economically during the last 3 years. It turns out that Bulgaria runs well without a government.

"the mafia kingpin" - I could not say it better even if i tried

“Oh my freaking God, again?” - me seeing the title

TLDR team is on fire: covering 12 elections in one year 🔥

It's worth mentioning also that despite EU's criticisms of Bulgaria's corruption issue, Ursula von der Leyen personally came to Bulgaria to lend support to GERB-SDS in the run up to the latest elections. GERB-SDS is a member of EPP so apparently a political group's interests supersede principles.

As I Bulgarian it breaks my heart that we made it to the world news... Also the main problem in my opinion is that only 36% of the population even votes. The situation is much worse than you think. People lost faith...

Belgium s Record has been beaten

I did a study about disillusionment with democracy in Europe, Bulgaria made the top 3 in every metric when it came to the countries whos citizens are most disillusioned with democracy and don't trust their institutions.

I'm Bulgarian, and this video is quite accurate. The ГЕРБ-ДПС (GERB-DPS) proposed government is being voted on today (3 July 2024) and is expected to fail. It's not completely certain that we'll have new elections because ИТН (ITN, There is Such a People) or Величие (Velichie, Greatness) might end up supporting some sort of government. The decrease of voter turnout is mainly because many voters felt betrayed by the coalition between ГЕРБ (GERB) and the reformist parties ПП-ДБ (PP-DB) and they didn't go to the polling stations. ДПС (DPS, the Turkish party) have a more or less fixed electorate support, and even though their votes barely changed, they got more seats due to the low turnout.

Been there done that, sorry for you Bulgaria. We had 5 elections between 2019-2023 in Israel, including during the hight of COVID19. Netanyahu was just starting his corruption trial, there was supposed to be a rotational government between Netanyahu and Ganz, but of course Netanyahu dissolved the Knesset after just a few months. Then, we had an 8 parties government with capitalists, socialists, liberals, religious zionists and islamists. We had a prime minister with 6 seats (out 120 seats in the parliament). Now Netanyahu is "leading" the worst government ever. I'm waiting to see him in Hague.

As a Bulgarian - this is quite a good summary, good job !

They just made a bet with Belgium 🤷🏻‍♀️

*I LIVE IN BULGARIA* they like elections - its a national pastime, you get a holiday for each one. EDIT this is incorrect - they stop alcohol sales BUT being serious - this country runs better with NO government than the Uk under the Tories - 5% GDP growth this year, 4 new hospitals in my city alone, 2 new free universities, amazing public transport, public toilets are better than most UK 4* hotels. And its 33ºC today

The situation in Bulgaria is extremely dangerous for the entire EU and NATO, but it is often not understood. The economic stagnation and lack of development leads to severe disappointment among the Bulgarians, and this can break this country away from Europe and NATO. It will be a geopolitical disaster for the entire southern flank of NATO and the EU. Russia does not accidentally call Bulgaria the "gateway to the Balkans". A rupture of Bulgaria would open up an entire Russian corridor from the Black Sea to the Adriatic through Serbia and Montenegro, along with Hungary. shaking Bulgaria will also sabotage the Three Seas initiative. Bulgaria is an extremely important country geopolitically - it borders the Western Balkans, controls Europe's busiest land border with Turkey, and in the east has a key role in the Black Sea and the conflict in Ukraine. Bulgaria is a huge supplier of weapons of Soviet models for Ukraine. The American historian, publicist and analyst Robert Kaplan calls the Bulgarians "the lonely man of the Balkans". Very few journalists and analysts understand this nation, and this can play a bad joke on European politics and NATO's defense capabilities. The Bulgarians are left as a periphery and for many Western diplomats this is an incomprehensible country and people. Russia will use this chance and everyone in the Balkans knows it. Bulgaria must be helped. A rupture in this part of the Balkans and Eastern Europe is a colossal threat to Europe.

Let's hope for peace, stability, and a just, stable government in Bulgaria.

As a person from Bulgaria, I can 100% say that this is pretty accurate.

as a Bulgarian, this now feels like a comedy version of Game of Thrones.

You're mispronouncing pretty much anything with an "e" in it. The letter never changes its sound in Bulgarian (and possibly other Slavic languages), it's always hard "e", like in Shrek or Belgium

Always remember that the easiest way to keep hold of power in a corrupt country, is using "anti-corruption" to get rid of your corrupt competition.

Quick update from today. New elections are coming in this October on your local cinema ... Bulgaria - Prive that anarchy is possible

Is election/political burnout a thing?

OMG BULGARIA MENTIONED 🦅🦅🦅🦅

Game of thrones in real life is in Bulgaria.

Very good summary of the situation in the last couple of years in Bulgaria.

Not even Portugal is that unstable

As a Bulgarian, I prefer listening to this rather than to local interpretations.

Sounds like a job for Czar Simeon again

day without political instability in EU is day wasted

Well fuck, at least they have elections.

Israel: I can relate

ITN isn't precisely Euro-skeptic. Or at least their leader isn't. Although they do seem to have started shifting more to the right as time passes.

I never thought l'd hear such a thing as a "bulgarian mafia" in my lifetime, but here we are. My condolences to the bulgarian people for having to suffer through this political impasse.

heh heh "pee pee party" huhuhu

Bulgarian names are hard 😅❤

You were wrong about no one forming a government after the NOV 2021 elections. PP (We continue the change) managed to form a government trough an unheard of (at least in Bulgaria) 4 party coalition with BSP, ITN and DB. Though the government was toppled after 9 months by ITN leaving the coalition due to the lift of the VETO for accession of Macedonia into the EU. So with that and the rotational government of PP+DB with GERB and support from DPS (for constitutional amendments), PPDB were the only party/coalition that was able to form governments in the last years and both times they were toppled mainly by GERB, DPS, Revival (Vazrazhdane) and ITN.

Could you do a video on Belgium’s federal and regional elections of June 9th and the upcoming municipal elections of October?

Hey! Could you make a video about Romanian politics some day? A lot has been happening these years, now after the last EU and local elections (which took place on the same day) accusations of voter fraud have been flying around as a record number of votes were annulled, in addition to many other scandals.

So, is there any other way then a credit card to buy the too long magazine? I'm interested but i don't have a credit card, they are very rare here.

*I LIVE IN BULGARIA* dont let the political situation fool you - things work VERY well here - I found a pot hole last week - reported it on the city app. 2 days later I got a message and a picture to show they had fixed it. Power is VERY devolved here - the national government only deal with truly national issues like defence and trade deals. My city is Burgas - look it up and tell me if it looks like a UK city

I visited Bulgaria last month on an Eastern European and Türkiye trip and I saw a lot of billboards of politicians and a local explained their elections just keep rolling on and on.

This is a really good summary. Only two points I want to add: - The new "Greatness" party surprised everyone when they got in parliament, as nobody in the media has talked about them before, but it turns out they had promoted themselves hardcore in RU-vid, TikTok, Telegram, etc. They are a very weird mix of a pro-Russian party, combined with a Ponzi scheme type business, some people call them a cult and possibly also have a small paramilitary squad as well. There are a bunch of pro-Russian influencers attached to them as well. - There is also talk that the current president will resign, create a party and come as a savior from the chaos. Which is a bit worrying, as he seems as possibly a bit authoritarian and pro-Russian, and is a very good political operator overall, has a bit of Orban vibes to him.

Lack of stability is why most of our population left..

politics just about everywhere is crazy nowadays i pity the future history teacher preparing their unit on the 2020s

Thanks for explaining my own country's politics for me mate

FINALLY A BULGARIAN VIDEO!!!

Great video and such a pleasure to see the chaos in Bulgarian politics explained in English and without the local bieses. Of course there are other small but crucal details, but the most important thing is that "the deep goverment" doesn't want to loose control and the majority of the population have lost hope long time ago. Such videos can be very helpful. Thanks a lot 🙂

This thing gives me deep PTSD as an Israeli

I think your view of corruption in Bulgaria is somewhat false. Corruption is endemic in every aspect of Bulgarian life and this is just reflected in politics. After living in Bulgaria for 7 years, I would say that the basic message is, "I want everything but pay nothing and especially if I can find a way not to pay." Bulgarians completely know the situation but don't really want things to change if it affects their pockets.

Bulgarian here; the simple truth is that Borisov is a genius at the game called Bulgarian politics. He always comes as a winner despite the situation he is in. The anti-corruption coalition are fine but you can’t win a game playing by the rules while your opponent doesn’t play by that rules.

What a mess!

Some details are missing, but in general, it is a very good review

Most stable political era in Bulgaria

A very major point that I think should have been emphatically mentioned was that when the time for the rotation came in spring '24, GERB (the party of B.Borisov which was meant to start presiding over the government) left negotiations without reaching an agreement and presented a new government lineup that hadn't even got the consent of most ministers. It was shockingly unprincipled, dishonest and politically disruptive and has completely annihilated any trust between the two major blocks that are at least statedly pro-EU and supportive of Ukraine.

craziest monet heist in history

Suffered through is very accurate, it is tremendously tedious every other month elections...

Fascinating.

Living in Bulgaria has become beyond depressing. Every aspect of this country is beyond corrupt. I work as a doctor and sadly even healthcare is beyond repair and in need of an ground up reform. It's gotten to the point where It might just be better for most people to jump ship to west europe.

It's obvious this system isn't working and it needs to change. So far the two ideas floating around are to change to a presidential republic, which I don't think is a good idea, and majority bonus system, which is used in Greece. It would undermine the people's choice, but for stability, the second one works better.

a face made for prison, almost as bad as von der Leyen's ordering of billions of big pharma juice via her private mobile phone

I'm Bulgarian and your reporting is really good to represent the sh show we're experiencing for the 3rd year in a roll, but is widely skewed. Here are a few inaccuracies: - I don't know why you keep calling "The Opposition" an opposition - the windows of governance we've had during the last 3 years, they were in power for 2 out of those 3 years, the rest was a caretaker parliament. - The rotating cabinet that was proposed was a dumpster fire from the beginning. In essence it was entirely out of "the opposition" ministers, with just the foreign minister from GERB, who was a European commissioner up until now, very well respected by Ursula FDL. When it was time for her to form her rotating cabinet, it wasn't "the bad fat man" that plotted to ruin it, it was "the opposition" that didn't hold up the end of their deal. There was a leaked audio at the beginning of this sham, where the leadership of PP did flat out say "don't mind that, they will never get to their rotation, we just need to get our guys in the important institutions". - GERB is actually part of the EPP and has been uncompromising with the mission and directions from the EPP. Do I prefer we have a better man than Borisov leading the country -- absolutely. For financial and geopolitical direction at least that is reliable - PP/DB voters ("The opposition") had a falling out because of their sheer incompetence and disregard of how to play by the rules. It's a bunch of "fake it till you make it" excel finance bros that are really not fit for ruling. Half the friends I have that voted for them have given up on them for that exact reason. Apparently they can't be politicians, because the legacy parties know how to do wrong things legally, those loosers consistently do "the right" things illegally. How "right" their decisions are is highly debatable, but it consistently backfires. They came in to power for the first time right after the pandemic, and instead of recovery, they nominally doubled the national debt and the finance minister keeps showing % of GDP to debt graphs to cover it up, as if we don't have the internet to look it up. - DPS is a mafia involved in political blackmail and nobody will rely on them for anything. Every government so far from GERB we had in the last 13 years, they were kept in functional isolation. As mafia, they are obviously ingrown in to government structures for decades, but slowly their power was diminishing. Now after the "rise of the opposition" they somehow have rebound. - The elections right now, everybody just refuses to talk. Meaning - not attending coalition government talks. Nobody but GERB want to rule and everybody proclaims they will be an opposition. And literally post-election day. - The future? - well it's bleak... the president is more of a Russian sympathizer than Vucic in Serbia or Orban in Hungary, elected and endorsed by the same "Opposition". While PP/DB is flying in the clouds trying to find links between Borisov and the mafia boss and engaging solely in smear campaigns as if that will get them votes, the mafia party (DPS) is benefiting greatly from the loss of trust in institutions and low voter turnout. The far-right clowns are consolidating and they are as literal as you can get, repeating Kremlin state TV propaganda points. We have the old Socialist party guard, that are still in parliament and the rumors are the current pro--Kremlin president will make his own party and we will have a strong majority Kremlin megaphone government that is more pro-Russian than Belarus. In NATO... in the EU...

As a bulgarian I am ok with having no government, since that means that businesses aren't being rackateered and are able to grow. That is probably one of the reasons we are doing economically well, as well as the fact that PPDB raised the welfare of pensioners and the pay of teachers (the last being started in 2018).

Best vid about Bulgaria.

You say crazy, I say fascinating.

Very interesting

Todor Zhivkov actually ruled Bulgaria between 1956 to 1989, but you can say he executed total power after 1962. Still, if you take the 1956 as his start, Zhivkov is the third longest ruling Bulgarian after Tsar Peter I (927-969) and Tsar Ioan Alexander (1331-1371). And his rule was actually not bad to the people, if you accept the realities of the Eastern Block and socialist satellite alignment that our country had towards the USSR. Most repressions of the regime were done prior to Zhivkov coming to power, and this is a fact worth to be noted.

We miss Todor Jivkov!

Bulgaria is absolutely stable. We just don't have a regular government which is not a big deal.

Can you cover the Mauritanian and Mongolian elections?

Yes to anti-corruption, fight Putler style government. And yes to breeding its own people, or immigrants will be needed.

I hope things stabilize soon. All this turmoil is hindering Bulgaria's development...

Thanks to you people I finally know what's up with the country I'm living my entire life

At this point change is not going to come from within Bulgaria, we'll be getting pretty much the same results over and over again. Only thing that could move things forward is pressure from outside, be it EU or Russian pressure.

"The bulgarian parliament is my favourite tv comedy show" -forgot who said that but its true 💀

Do we at least get an award or mention in Guinness book for the amount of elections we’ve had?

As A Bulgarian Serb, Not That Much Happens In Person Only In Paper Nothing In This Video Has Really Effected Any Of Me Or My Friends At All

Correction - It's Slavi Trifonov, not Trofinov.

i need to buy tickets to that , that there must be the bloodiest fight for power of the decade

Perfect video, very good job!!!!! If you take two things out of this video - the biggest parties in Bulgaria and their leaders "Borisov, that was afraid of prosecution" 5:08 "Delian Peevski, the mafia kingpin" 5:30 Enough said... Btw GERB's goverment just failed couple of days ago and we will probably have another election soon :D

4:02 "On paper two sides agreed... " There were no paper.

A thing not mentioned in the video but I think is very important - the EU are shooting themselves in the foot and are fully responsible for the rise in EU scepticism. Firstly not only the failure to address corruption in Bulgaria but Ursula von der Leyen endorsed Borisov and GERB in the last election in June which annoyed a lot of pro-EU Bulgarians and also gave more ammunition to anti-EU parties, just so she can secure a few more votes in the EU parliament.

Man this was actually depressing to watch, even though I'm not From Bulgaria and I've been rather ignorant of Bulgarian politics until now. I mean just having a known mafia oligarch guy be a prominent figure in politics... and having one of the most powerful politicians be verifiably corrupt and persecutable (though the latter isn't unique even amongst more powerful nations cough Trump cough)

There is a British saying "there are no eternal friends rather than eternal interests" i am Bulgarian and I am using this saying to say to your viewers (mainly Brithish liberal young people) that the interests of Bulgaria don't follow the interests of British or biggest EU members our future is bright with more common relationship with Russia, Arab countries and Iran rather Britain.

And I thought Italy had unstable politics

Bulgaria moment

6:00 ДПС used to be turkish and roma party. For almost a dekade it is much more than that

You never want to see your country in the news...

Today GERB failed to make a government and DPS(MRF) is facing internal fights because of Peevski. Also, this is without even mentioning the changes to our constitution which make it more difficult to overthrow parties which have taken power (these changes are partly responsible for the loss in confidence in the reformists, because they participated in writing them alongside Borisov and Peevski), a problem which has persisted in our history since 1879 (literally since our liberation). Another change made our courts even more convoluted.

How about EPPs Ursula von der Leyen and Manfred Webber personally supporting Boyko Borissov and his party GERB and being blind about how corrupted he/they are. And than we are wondering why euroscepticism grows…

Why? It's the 7th? Thought it was 19th. You sure?

Guys this is far not the worst situation Bulgaria has been in considering elections, in the 1930s Bulgaria had around 30 (not sure if it was 23 or more ) failed attempts to form a government. It is not going to get any better anytime soon until people start to see themselves presented by a party, just a single one that hasn’t had its hands befouled til now…

Some information in the video is not true. The first time PP won the elections it did form a government which existed for about 9 months.

You want to know the worse part. In Bulgaria's system individual people (and pretty sure corporations too) can't donate to their favorite candidate (at least publicly behind closed doors you have oligarchs probably donating millions to everyone be they Gerb,PP or however else) however in reality these elections are payed for by taxpayer dollars That's right all these elections all the campaigns of all the party are payed for by our hard earned money you know instead of that money going to literally anything else our country is lacking in like -infrastructure -state pensions -education -not having a deficit -programes aimed at fighting corruption I could keep going...but instead we have to hold an election that ultimately won't change anything because all the parties positions are the same

If we look at Belgium, The Netherlands (sometimes) the US and others we see an inability to form a political consensus because people are viewing the world in very different ways. I don't know how to fix that.

Additionally, Peevski removed Geshev once Geshev started turning on Borisov and Peevski on the back of a staged bombing accident against the prosecutor. Then once Geshev was ousted, his deputy is currently acting General Prosecutor, but he was installed by Peevski so he will be solidified, once the right time comes. Currently, Borisov has sniper security around his house 24/7 and Peevski moves like a presidential motorcade. It's getting interesting.

Or as we say in Bulgaria: “Nothing new under the sun”

Its effed bois