Even in the unclear context of the Russian war in Ukraine, Bulgarians continue to perceive European countries as the closest among international factors. Meanwhile, a mass perception of price increases has really taken hold in our country recently. Regarding the fires, our society is primarily self-critical on the issue of causes and blame.
This is shown by a poll on some of the current topics for the season – it is part of the regular research in the independent research program “face to face“ of the new sociological agency “Myara“, recently created by Parvan Simeonov's team.
President Trump's meetings with Putin, Zelensky and European leaders come against the backdrop of traditional Bulgarian respect for European powers and a hesitant attitude towards Russia and the USA.
This long-observed instinct of Bulgarians means that the European Union has a positive attitude among 64.9% of Bulgarians, and a negative one - among 21.3%, and Germany is in similar positions with 61.2% against 25.2%. France, on the other hand, has 54.1% positive assessments and 28.9% negative. Even Great Britain, which left the union, gains a rather positive attitude - with 51.3% positive assessments and 31.2% negative. NATO is at the levels: 38.7% positive attitude and 41.9% negative. The USA and Russia have respectively: 32.5% against 49.6% and 31.2% against 49.7%. Ukraine itself has a positive attitude among 24.7% of Bulgarians, and a negative one – among 55.1%.
It is visible that the Bulgarian taste remains with the generalized image of Europe, which even in an unclear position is actually the closest.
“A companion victim“ of the international struggles in the Bulgarian mass consciousness remains Ukraine itself, which has a relatively low positive attitude and is close to the levels of the attitude towards Russia – which in turn dropped after the beginning of the Russian invasion. The current image of the USA also clearly polarizes opinions in our country. Of course, the further away a country is, the more difficult it is to sympathize with it.
Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters of adult Bulgarians believe that in recent weeks there has been an increase in the prices of goods and services. “In the last few weeks, I have felt a decrease in the prices of the goods and services I use“, say only 2% of adult Bulgarians, 17.3% have not felt a change in recent weeks, but 73.9% choose the option “In the last few weeks, I have felt an increase in the prices of the goods and services I use“. Nearly 7% cannot assess.
Even if this is habitual pessimism, the shares are serious. They are most serious among the oldest people in our country, and are not small even among supporters of the currently ruling parties.
During the fire season, 63% of adult Bulgarians declare a positive attitude towards the work of the fire department in our country. 21.2% are of the opposite position. The rest hesitate. This is a noticeably positive picture of basic trust in firefighters in our country.
Asked in an experimental indicator to determine their position regarding two possible readings of the situation in our country, however, most adult Bulgarians remain fundamentally critical of the institutions responsible for overcoming fires. “The institutions in Bulgaria are rather doing their utmost, although the situation is clearly difficult“, choose 31.9% of those asked. However, 57.3% prefer the other conclusion: “The situation is clearly difficult, but the institutions in Bulgaria are not doing their utmost“. A little over one-tenth cannot assess.
Asked to choose from a list of up to three main factors for the fire situation in the country, 87.8% named human negligence, 84.6% indicated deliberate arsons as a factor, nature itself, for example heat, winds, etc., were mentioned by 68.3%, and 45.5% indicated insufficient care on the part of the relevant institutions as a factor. Thus, along with its demands on institutions, society shows an even greater self-critical reaction.
Ultimately, it turns out that on a principled and human level, firefighters naturally evoke approval, but skepticism towards the overall performance of the relevant authorities remains traditional, and what seems to be most tangible during the fire season is a general public self-accusation.
Trust in firefighting work is high, demands on institutions are also high,but for Bulgarians, it was not their weaknesses that were decisive for the difficult situation with the fires. What was decisive was clearly our negligence or malicious intent as members of society.
The data are from the independent research program of the sociological agency “Measure“. The study was conducted “face to face“ with tablets between July 31 and August 8, 2025 among 801 adult Bulgarian citizens. The maximum standard deviation is ±3.5 at 50% shares. 1% of the sample equals about 54,000 people.