Dokument #2037999
Freedom House (Autor)
Democracy Percentage | 58.93 / 100 |
Democracy Score | 4.54 / 7 |
By Emilia Zankina and Boris Gurov
The year 2019 was eventful in Bulgarian politics. The ruling party, Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), reaffirmed its hold on power in two elections, the European Parliament (EP) elections in May and local elections in October. Still, there was a clear protest vote against the governing coalition, and political dynamics in the country were characterized by polarization and institutional conflict. Antidemocratic tendencies deepened, with media freedom steadily deteriorating, legislative changes restricting political competition and the entrance of newcomers, and the Chief Prosecutor’s Office abusing its power and violating the presumption of innocence. Additionally, major corruption scandals involving members of the governing coalition further eroded trust in institutions, and civil society organizations were subjected to attacks by politicians and government officials.
Political confrontation has been the norm in Bulgaria’s public discourse, institutional relations, and intraparty politics. The conflict between President Rumen Radev, supported by the main opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), and Prime Minister and GERB chairman Boyko Borisov continued in 2019, including a series of presidential vetoes easily overruled by the GERB-dominated National Assembly (Bulgaria’s unicameral parliament) as well as verbal attacks. GERB itself suffered internal divisions, undergoing intraparty purges as a result of corruption scandals. GERB’s second in line, Tzvetan Tzvetanov, head of the party’s parliamentary group and PM Borisov’s closest ally since the party’s founding, resigned amid the so-called Apartmentgate scandal in May, as did justice minister Tzetzka Tzatcheva and the head of the country’s anticorruption body, Plamen Georgiev. Agriculture minister Rumen Porozhanov was also forced to resign following a major scandal involving the misuse of European Union (EU) funds.
Similarly, the BSP faced an internal confrontation between party leader Kornelia Ninova and the leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Sergei Stanishev (a former PM and BSP leader), especially in the context of the EP elections, which put into question whether Stanishev would remain on the BSP list. The governing coalition suffered from divisions as well. The junior coalition partner, United Patriots (UP), split apart in July after expelling Ataka’s Volen Siderov, but GERB continued to work with UP’s other two members, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO) and the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB). The traditional right, which had suffered continued fragmentation over the last 18 years, gave birth to another ideologically unusual coalition uniting environmental activists and conservatives. The coalition took the name “Democratic Bulgaria” and managed to gain one seat in the EP, as well as a number of municipal seats in larger cities during the local elections.
Although both elections were declared fair, there were persistent irregularities and serious concerns over vote buying, a common practice for all major parties. The abolishment of machine voting after piloting it during the EP elections clearly demonstrated the lack of political will to address irregularities in the electoral process. The political party financing law, which was changed several times, failed to deliver on its promise to significantly cut government subsidies to parties—and also allows for unlimited party donations by individuals and businesses. Local elections, particularly in the capital Sofia, took place amid polarized debates on such issues as corruption, the environment, infrastructure, and transparency and inclusion of citizens in local government. GERB registered a decline in support in the local elections, losing several regional cities to BSP. In fact, the races in the capital and several other larger cities showed a clear protest vote against GERB.
Bulgaria continued its decline on all media freedom indicators. Journalists were subjected to harassment and intimidation by government officials and the prosecution during the year. Scandals affected the national radio and television, with journalists being attacked and dismissed by the public broadcasters’ new leadership. In addition, business moguls acquired the country’s largest media group, Nova, then dismissed critical journalists and imposed control over editorial content.
The country’s institutional effectiveness was further put in question in July when personal information of all working adults was leaked after the hacking of the National Revenue Service’s database, and a lack of oversight in waste management led to a summer highway fire that received belated attention. Serious problems with local governance, such as poor air quality in some cities and water shortages in Pernik and surrounding towns, also exposed institutional deficiencies.
The election of a new chief prosecutor dominated public debate throughout the year and resulted in a series of protests against the single candidate, Ivan Geshev—a controversial figure who publicly stated that he does not believe in the separation of government powers.
Pro- and anti-Russian attitudes continued to define political discourse and specific policies. The purchase of F-16 fighter aircraft following a public procurement procedure, lengthy parliamentary debates, and tough negotiations with the U.S. government clearly illustrated the depth of such divisions in Bulgarian society. A celebration of the 75th anniversary of the communist coup, labeled “liberation from fascism” by the Russian government and a large number of Russian sympathizers in the country, also demonstrated the population’s lack of consensus on Bulgaria’s geostrategy. Meanwhile, a fierce debate over history textbooks displayed a similar lack of consensus on the interpretation of the communist past.
Media investigations revealing that operatives of the GRU (the Russian foreign military-intelligence agency) were involved in the attempted assassination of a Bulgarian arms trader in 2015 created tensions between Bulgarian and Russian authorities. A visit in May by Pope Francis was met with a lukewarm reaction at best by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, which, supported by nationalists, refused to join the pontiff in a common prayer. Nationalists used the opportunity to espouse anti-immigration rhetoric and criticize Pope Francis for his support for refugees. Although Euroskepticism and nationalism in Bulgaria remain more moderate in scale compared to other EU countries, such sentiments put in question Bulgaria’s geostrategic orientation. At the same time, PM Borisov and GERB maintained and reaffirmed their Euro-Atlantic position in every interaction with EU institutions, as well as during the November meeting between Borisov and U.S. President Donald Trump. Such public positions notwithstanding, Borisov also played up to Russian interests in the country as illustrated by his support for the construction of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline in Bulgaria.
Economically, Bulgaria fared well in 2019 with modest GDP growth of over 3.5 percent and a budget deficit below the EU’s 3-percent limit. Bulgaria’s credit rating was raised in December, giving PM Borisov and the governing coalition an opportunity to praise their achievements.
The same positive sentiment was echoed in the European Commission’s Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report in October, which stated that Bulgaria had made sufficient progress in judicial reform and the fight against corruption, satisfying the commitments made by the country at the time of accession. Consequently, the commission considered abandoning the CVM mechanism and relying instead on monitoring and implementation by the Bulgarian authorities—an opinion that was later reversed in favor of continuing the CVM monitoring.
Considers the democratic character of the governmental system; and the independence, effectiveness, and accountability of the legislative and executive branches. | 4.25 / 7.00 |
Examines national executive and legislative elections, the electoral framework, the functioning of multiparty systems, and popular participation in the political process. | 5.50 / 7.00 |
Assesses the organizational capacity and financial sustainability of the civic sector; the legal and political environment in which it operates; the functioning of trade unions; interest group participation in the policy process; and the threat posed by antidemocratic extremist groups. | 5.50 / 7.00 |
Examines the current state of press freedom, including libel laws, harassment of journalists, and editorial independence; the operation of a financially viable and independent private press; and the functioning of the public media. | 3.50 / 7.00 |
Considers the decentralization of power; the responsibilities, election, and capacity of local governmental bodies; and the transparency and accountability of local authorities. | 4.75 / 7.00 |
Assesses constitutional and human rights protections, judicial independence, the status of ethnic minority rights, guarantees of equality before the law, treatment of suspects and prisoners, and compliance with judicial decisions. | 4.50 / 7.00 |
Looks at public perceptions of corruption, the business interests of top policymakers, laws on financial disclosure and conflict of interest, and the efficacy of anticorruption initiatives. | 3.75 / 7.00 |
Emilia Zankina is Dean of Temple University Rome and Associate Professor in Political Science. She has served as Provost of American University in Bulgaria, Associate Director of the Center for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, and Managing Editor of East European Politics and Societies. She holds a PhD in International Affairs and a Certificate in Advanced East European Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. Her research examines democratization, populism and political parties, public administration reform, and gender and political representation.
Boris Gurov is a researcher and assistant professor at the Economic Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Science. He holds a degree in sociology from Université de Provence Aix-Marseille I. He has led numerous research projects in Bulgaria on such topics as civil rights, media freedom, economic competitiveness, and indebtedness. He is a visiting professor at New Bulgarian University and American University in Bulgaria.
The ratings reflect the consensus of Freedom House, its academic advisers, and the author(s) of this report. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author(s). The ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 representing the highest level of democratic progress and 1 the lowest. The Democracy Score is an average of ratings for the categories tracked in a given year. The Democracy Percentage, introduced in 2020, is a translation of the Democracy Score to the 0–100 scale, where 0 equals least democratic and 100 equals most democratic.