In some countries there is a mafia, and in Bulgaria there is a mafia country - this represents the intercepted country. Politics is a very complex phenomenon. There is no total return to the period 2017-2020, but there is an activation of trends from then, which are now being refreshed and strengthened in connection with the European elections.
This is what he commented in the program "Bulgaria, Europe and the world in focus" on Radio "Focus" Anna Krasteva, professor of political science.
In her words, the European elections will be the context that will to a large extent affect the native one: "If for so many years, being members of the EU and with all the critical reports of the EU, this status quo of the trapped state, of systemic corruption, of permanent poverty, it is because one of the big reasons is that there is something like a tacit deal between the European institutions and the Bulgarian elites, and especially the party that has ruled us for many years - GERB", stressed Prof. Krasteva.
She pointed out that Brussels speaks several languages: "One is the language of the institutions that write the critical reports that monitor the countries. There is a political leadership that, in the new election situation, has personal ambitions. On the third level - these are the parties. Let's remember how many years Orbán's party was a member of the EPP, which is the most vocal critic of the EU. The voices are quite heterogeneous. In this heterogeneity, a very clever deal, these are unwritten agreements of Boyko Borisov, who internally as a natural is so close to Orbán. He so beautifully and from the inside comes to play Orban, but we already have Orban and so he would be second and it would be less profitable for him.
The deal he makes with Brussels is as follows: "I won't be Orban, but you on a house in Barcelona, bundles, etc. you won't pay attention". This is what supported the status quo in 2017-2020. This deal was largely actualized through the personal leadership ambitions of Ursula von der Leyen, who officially launched her candidacy. Borisov announced that she will also come to Bulgaria. The game is big. At the same time, she is under intense pressure - receiving criticism from the left and the right. In this situation, every ally is an extraordinary trump card, every ally must be won, and every ally must be wooed. Did Boyko Borisov give support to Ursula, and if she wins a new 5-year mandate, a future familiar from the past awaits us", commented the professor of political sciences.
Anna Krasteva added that the fundamental problem in politics is that the elites have totally knocked out the citizens: "At the moment, elections are coming up, but they give us little choice. There are always symbolic battles between elites and citizens for uses of crises. There are rare historical crises, they are exceptions - the end of the Vienna Winter - total ruin of the country, significantly more dramatic than today, there was no EU, inflation was over 300%. Then reformist elites and citizens united and together profited from the crisis in the name of the public interest. Much more often it is different. Either the citizens or the elites win. In 2020, the voice was heard that the citizens wanted a change, and a little delayed in time, it started to happen. A party was formed to express these demands".
She explained that the big stakes in all these years from the protests in 2020 until today are two and they are equally important.
"The one - Bulgaria is a member of the EU, but there are loyal members who recognize themselves in European values and disloyal ones like Orban, being in the EU, but speaking against it and getting closer to Russia. This is the geopolitical stake, which at any moment is sharp, but in a state of war it is fundamental. This is about our Euro-Atlantic orientation, because if, God forbid, this war gets even closer, who can we rely on but NATO?
The other bet is domestic and it is status quo or change. The status quo in our country is related to this captured state. There are specific expressions and they are: Bulgaria is permanently and constantly in the last place in Europe in terms of wealth. In other words, we are the poorest country in Europe permanently and permanently. At the same time, we are the most corrupt country in Europe permanently and permanently. It is clear that the two are connected, because if the national wealth had not flowed into corruption, we would have moved a little further. So is this status quo that privatizes the national wealth into corrupt pockets that are getting greedier and more and more of that national wealth appropriated or are we going to start to pull away from that rock bottom a little bit less. These are the two big geopolitical bets.
In the words of Prof. Krasteva, the biggest image maker in our country is Boyko Borisov: "With bright inner pleasure he says one thing at noon and another in the afternoon. Everyone knows that. The media covers both. He plays with this inconsistency, where in the morning he slaps, then opens the door, and the next day he can change, etc., but leaves the doors open. Everyone else who tries to play this game fails. In recent days, we have seen Academician Nikolay Denkov - an intelligent image, a man of science, he was moderate and rational, the kind of leaders in Bulgaria there are not many, and he entered into such a discourse, although not for himself, but for another, that he almost by stomping on the table, by shouting, etc., to engage in such speech, which is not his, is not a winning strategy, because to the joy of his voters, Denkov will never become Boyko Borisov.
The political science professor pointed out that at the moment there is no reasonable alternative that excludes GERB and PP: "The general framework is related to the fact that we are members of the EU, but on the second and even more important level is that the Bulgarian citizens in their vast majority are happy that we are members of the EU. The electorate of "Vazrazhdane", which is anti-EU, is 15%, but if it becomes 17%, the vast majority of Bulgarian citizens remains. We already live as European citizens".
Source: www.focus-news.net