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Nadezhda Neinski: There is a Euro-Atlantic majority in Bulgaria, but it should be a reformist majority

If the extreme party forms a coalition as a mandate holder, then the European Union will face a new populist bloc from Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and probably from next year to the Czech Republic will also be added to them, commented the former foreign minister

Oct 1, 2024 07:37 144

Nadezhda Neinski: There is a Euro-Atlantic majority in Bulgaria, but it should be a reformist majority  - 1

There is a clearly emerging trend towards increasing popularity of the extreme right in Europe, where it managed to win the trust of the people in a number of countries. The victory of the extreme right in Austria, with its open pro-fascist slogans and pro-Russian promises, was a great shock, even to the Austrians themselves. These are dangerous trends, because they show a radicalization in Europe, and this radicalization puts at risk the great idea of the European Union and its democracy. This is what the diplomat and former foreign minister Nadezhda Neinski said in the program "Bulgaria, Europe and the world of focus“ on Radio "Focus“.

"Economic problems in countries, rising inflation, problems with migrants – all these difficulties provide an opportunity for populist messages and for winning the minds and hearts of the people through populism,” she said, adding that the success of the far right was also due to the failure of traditional parties to retain the vote of their constituents.

In her words, the results give an advantage to the far-right Austrian Freedom Party, led by Herbert Kickle, but this advantage is not enough for it to form an independent government. "There is always one question in politics: what happens if a party that wins the election is completely isolated. I.e. whether this will not lead to even more dramatic results in the next election, which will make her an absolutely unavoidable factor and she will take an absolute majority. But Austria has experience in building coalitions and I guess such talks are already taking place.“

According to Nadezhda Neynski, Austria's responsibility towards European politics is also a very important factor, because "if the extreme party forms a coalition as a mandate holder, then the European Union will face a new populist bloc from Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and possibly from next year the Czech Republic will be added to them. But these processes are clearly developing and therefore there must be a very serious analysis in order to be able to find such a change in the politics of the traditional parties that would make it possible to preserve the democratic project of the United Europe.“

The chances of Bulgaria and Romania for Schengen will most likely depend on the choice of the governing coalition in Austria. "It is important how countries like Austria and the Netherlands will vote, but the most important thing is what will happen in Bulgaria in the upcoming elections. There is a Euro-Atlantic majority in Bulgaria, but this Euro-Atlantic majority must be a reformist majority. A government must be formed, supported by a stable coalition that will give it a 4-year mandate and perspective,” Neynsky is categorical.

According to the diploma, the high voter turnout is needed, which will enable the traditional parties to give a much greater representativeness of the vote and which will make the voice of the people recognizable and important. "Otherwise, it's no wonder that one day we too will rise with some radical party at the head. People are becoming radicalized. They think that the politicians probably do not care about the agenda of the society and want to punish them. The punitive vote goes through the radical parties,” former foreign minister Nadezhda Neinski also explained.