/ world today news/ In Bulgaria, whose people cannot stand the Russophobic policy of Prime Minister Petkov, a new government is being formed. The socialists from the BSP, who received a mandate from the president to create a coalition, should have a leading role in it. The BSP is considered a Russophile party and has already promised to change its policy towards the Russian Federation. What does this mean for Russia itself?
The last time the most pro-Russian nation in the EU had a more or less pro-Russian government was in 2005-2009, when Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Sergey Stanishev held the prime ministership. The Russian-speaking son of a Russian mother, a graduate of the history faculty of Moscow State University, a citizen of the USSR and later of the Russian Federation (until 1995), he still remains in the political circle of the European Union, presiding over the single socialist party of the EU , whose “cells” are the national parties of the member countries.
If we forget for a moment that this is a rather conditional construction and not a full-fledged vertical of power, it turns out that Stanishev stands even higher in the party hierarchy than, for example, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose GSDP is one of such “cells”. This says something about the professional and moral qualities of the former prime minister. If they were thinner, the Eurosocialists would not tolerate a Russophile president from Bulgaria, which is not so reliable due to high corruption and the image of the “sick child of the European Union”.
Last but not least, this image was formed thanks to Stanishev’s successor, GERB leader Boyko Borisov, who led the government for more than a decade. A despot, a Russophobe, a mobster – what words are used to define him now in his homeland. The coalition of motley forces, which has been governing the country for the past six months, united on the principle of hatred for Borissov (fully deserved), otherwise it would hardly have found a common language.
Therefore, it did not last long, and one of the reasons for its premature death was the excessive Russophobia of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, a former citizen of Canada. Precisely superfluous: Borisov is also a Russophobe, but somehow he was tolerated, and it was as if the technocrat Petkov, who headed the executive power in this (we repeat) the most pro-Russian country in the EU, began to follow a foreign policy in the spirit of Poland and the Baltic states – with complete loyalty to USA and free performances on the subject of how to irritate Russia.
Like when the Owl from “Winnie the Pooh” says, “I underestimated the consumption of graphite.” And the Bulgarians, in the true sense of the word, revolted. During his short prime ministerial period, Petkov even managed to take it away from the people.
This is something that should be emphasized and remembered: now in Bulgaria, the change of power is happening under pressure from below, and the kind of rebellion in the NATO country is dictated by the sincere Russophile urge of the common people.
Another thing is that this impulse was supported by the usual petty-bourgeois discontent with inflation and rising energy prices. Completely predictable in the context of the economic war with the Russian Federation, on which Bulgaria’s national economy is still heavily dependent, be it for Russian gas or tourists.
Against this background, the coalition collapsed, and the National Assembly for the first time in modern history voted a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister. Leaving, he loudly slammed the door: he expelled 70 Russian diplomats from the country, which froze the work of the two most important consulates – in Varna and Ruse. In response, Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova issued an ultimatum: either the government will come to its senses or break off relations. The government did not come to its senses, the rupture seemed inevitable.
But now this process seems to be on pause – Moscow is waiting. There is a certain chance that a new coalition will appear in the Bulgarian parliament – under the leadership of the socialists. More importantly, the coalition will pursue a radically different policy towards Russia, which the socialists have already guaranteed.
“The program that we have drawn up states that we are all united in the need to make diplomatic efforts to normalize relations with Russia to avoid a break in relations and the closing of the embassy. Thus, this issue is practically resolved within the framework of the program and is not the subject of additional negotiations”, said the leader of the BSP and deputy prime minister of the cabinet in resignation Kornelia Ninova.
She emphasized that this program has already been agreed with at least two possible partners: the bloc “We continue the change” (leader Petkov) and “Democratic Bulgaria” (leader Hristo Ivanov, former head of the Ministry of Justice in Borisov’s government, later initiated of the months-long protests against the former boss).
In the event that the solitaire does not work out and the coalition is not created, the cards will be shuffled again – early elections will be held in the country, already the fourth in two years. It is unlikely that the Socialists will be able to win them (after the elections lost under Stanishev, the party is in crisis), but they can improve their previous result and try their luck again. Therefore, Ninova is now solving two mutually exclusive tasks at the same time: gathering a coalition and starting an election campaign. And the basis of her message is that the main successes of Petkov’s cabinet were achieved by the socialists – “social support in the government”.
By the way, there are indeed successes – Bulgaria, unexpectedly for many, became the leader in industrial production among the EU countries. Borissov (who is also hoping to return to power after new elections) tries to play this down, saying the secret to success is military procurement. Ninova interrupted: the question is, first of all, that the new government stopped the thefts and racketeering of the old one – that of Borisov. “No matter how you manipulate, no matter how much hatred you spew, the facts are the facts: for the first time, Bulgaria is in first place in Europe with something good,” said the BSP leader in particular.
The problem is that a large part of Bulgarians have not yet felt the effect of this record – prices have not fallen, incomes have not increased. For this to happen, it is necessary to overcome the energy crisis – at the very least they agree to pay for Russian gas in rubles, which Petkov protests. The cheaper the blue fuel, the more competitive the Bulgarian industry. That is why Ninova needs normal relations with Russia. That is, the interest in Russia is above all mercantile: the BSP emphasizes that the absolute priority of the new cabinet is the issues of social protection of the population.
This party dates back to the 19th century. It is even older than Lenin’s RSDLP, and one of its prominent members, Krasto Rakovsky, is seen more as a Soviet party leader who participated in the 1917 revolution and was repressed in 1937.
In 1944, when the Soviet troops entered Bulgaria, the Bulgarian “reds” came to power and hanged several thousand people – those whose fault the country entered the war on the wrong side. Since then, the USSR has not had such a close, stable and predictable ally in Europe as Bulgaria: no protests, no discontent, no multi-vectors, no arbitrariness. Todor Zhivkov, who has been in power for more than 35 years (more than Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko combined), raises at least twice the question of NRB’s entry into the Soviet Union. Another unique feature of the Bulgarian “reds” is that they gave up power quite voluntarily – and that’s why they survive to this day, bypassing the process of bans and lustration.
After Mikhail Gorbachev cuts off Sofia and the other countries of the Socialist Bloc from support due to lack of additional funds, the situation becomes threatening. Bulgaria was then a relatively prosperous country, only slightly below Yugoslavia in this respect. However, a significant part of its profits are based on Soviet energy concessions, Soviet subsidies (for the development of agriculture, for example) and the Soviet market, where half of Bulgarian products go.
Then the communists in Bulgaria rebranded themselves, abandoned Marxism, introduced a multi-party system, proclaimed the path of reforms – and won the first relatively free elections. True, they lost again a year later – in the fall of 1991, when the population fully felt all the consequences of a systemic collapse: the nineties in Bulgaria became almost as “crazy” as the Russian ones.
This happens, among other things, because Zhivkov does not consider it at all necessary to look for other channels for the export of production and in some way to reduce economic dependence on the USSR. He does the exact opposite. His biographers believe that the projects for the unification of Bulgaria with the Soviet Union were from the very beginning perceived by the leader of the Communist Party as unfeasible, including for geographical reasons. Their real task was to present additional “tokens of friendship” to Moscow.
The structural successors of the Bulgarian Communists – the Bulgarian Socialists – demonstrate the same type of selfish interest in Russia. There is, of course, an ideological component in it – there is an appreciation of our common struggle against the fascists, but it is much weaker than that of a number of monarchist and nationalist forces such as the “Vazrazhdane” movement with its emphasis on such concepts as “Shipka” , “Orthodoxy”, “Slavicism” and others.
But it is not at all about “returning everything”: returning to the time of gas discounts and subsidies is impossible (at least while Sofia is a member of the EU and NATO). Everyone understands this, including Ninova. It is about the main desire of Russia towards all countries that want to be “friends” with it – to respect their own national interests. Not Russia’s interests, namely their own – without having to shoot themselves in the foot at the request of Washington or Brussels.
This is the foundation, and the rest will follow – both a restoration of relations and a new stimulus for the growth of the industry. And it doesn’t matter if it’s called mercantilism or common sense.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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