Comment by Georgi Lozanov:
The protest wave was expected, but the impressive presence of Generation Z (Gen Z) in it was a “black swan“ (an event impossible to predict), whose “unknown“ remain: what made the young people take to the streets and who would they vote for? To answer these two related questions, we must first ask ourselves a third: who are Gen Z?
The first generation of Bulgarians born in a Western country
They are the first “digital generation“ (between 16 and 28 years old or so), which witnessed the gradual introduction of smartphones, tablets, social networks and streaming, unlike the next Gen Alpha, formed entirely by them - from early childhood. The cultural situation of Gen Z is somewhat borderline: they can quickly process information from many sources, prefer its visual forms, feel at home in the virtual space and at the same time value authenticity, direct communication, natural people, real stories. They make pragmatic choices with clearly measurable results, speak frankly about their own adversities and challenges, are irritated by gossip, ulterior motives and flattery. They look at life on the bright side, seek entertainment and put artistic energy into it (with memes, TikToks, flash mobs, etc.). They do not like long formats, prefer TED lectures, but they are sensitive to the big problems of the 21st century: climate change, social inequalities, ethnic and gender discrimination, mental health... They use social networks to express opinions on them and reach generational consensus.
All this is valid for Gen Z in general, and in our country it is especially the first generation of Bulgarians born after the Winter of Videno in a Western country, for whom the right to free movement - to travel, reside, work and study outside the homeland - is self-evident, and national borders are a condition. They are citizens of the world, they have studied and lived in Europe and America and have seen “live” what true democracy and civic activism are - to go out and defend it yourself when necessary. And it seems to me that they have felt exactly such a need lately, because Gen Z are carriers of a modern patriotism devoid of arrogance. It has made them join the protest in order to prevent Bulgaria from becoming a place that they will be forced to leave forever.
In this sense, their protest is a direct continuation of the protests of 2020, when young people again protested against the status quo model of government, in which behind the facade of democracy, public interest is replaced by private interest. And there was no doubt that 5 years later the protest wave would rise again, because not only is there an accelerated restoration of the same model, but it is also being promoted under the label of “stability“ as the only one possible for Bulgaria. What is new is that in connection with the generational nature of Gen Z, with its inherent directness and pragmatism, the focus of the anger in the square is demagogy - "leading the people" in the opposite direction of the truth. The intolerance of today's young people is towards saying things in black and white, towards wrapping ordinary outrages with extensive explanations until they cease to be noticed and are even proclaimed as heroic deeds. It is not for nothing that Assen Vassilev's line "Who ordered this outrage" became one of the protest hits. And one of the protest speakers - Mimi Shishkova, says: “When you come in unencumbered by the habit of tolerating corruption, misuse of public funds, and eye-rolling, then you actually ask yourself “how the hell is this possible“.
Corruption with public funds
It all started, of course, with the budget - the "black box" of the government, whose discussion and mainly attempts to avoid discussion raised suspicions that a major theft, similar to Corpbank or Bulgartabac, was being prepared behind the expert reasoning. The question was whether Lukoil, Toto or something still unidentified would play this role. Suspicion was raised by the scuttling of parliamentary committees - for Lukoil in 26 seconds, and for the budget it had to be during the lunch break before the opposition noticed. And most of all by the use of Assen Vassilev as an alibi with an old date - because he had taken on debt to increase pensions and salaries, this could not help but continue. It's no wonder that back then, in order to increase them many times more than now, he had taken on many times less debt (who is interested in the exact numbers can compare the ratios between debt and GDP in percentages). People, tired over the years of discussing unpunished abuses, could have “dropped the meter“ another justification, but not the young and unencumbered. And pensions, salaries and social security, anyway, are corruption-indivisible public funds, what is more important is what is provided for corruption-indivisible – those that can go to “hoop” in “portions” from close companies, as the former leader of the MRF shared.
The suspicion of a risk of corrupt distribution of public funds was also fueled by the fact that the current leader of the MRF occupied an increasingly central place in the exercise of power and was not afraid to demonstrate it. Although he was sanctioned precisely for corruption by the country's international partners. And he wanted Bulgarian society to tacitly justify him by showing that sanctions do not matter here. But in the face of the protest, he met with a categorical refusal, expressed in dozens of caricatures, slogans, artifacts and the song "When you -, when you -, when Peevski falls...". The paradox of his situation is evident in the fact that he himself is used as a self-compromise - accuses his opponents of being connected to him.
His presence in power also increased suspicions on another front – of influence on the judicial system with the aim of using the state's repressive apparatus to deal with undesirables in politics and business (we must also add the excessive increase in salaries only in the security forces). An example, frightening in its declared ruthlessness, was the detention of the Varna mayor, which started the wave of protests. It was like an incident from “Alice in Wonderland“ – first the sentence is carried out, and then the verdict is pronounced. Only after they permanently arrested the mayor did they manage to find a witness against him somewhere, whose unconvincingness was offensive to common sense.
They have not lost their faith
The most persistent manifestation of demagogy is to hide one problem by replacing it with another. Or in this case - whoever criticizes the government for its bad practices is therefore against the eurozone. As if entering it is not a requirement and hope for the interruption of these practices. The white threads of support are visible everywhere, especially from Gen Z, who, once they have taken to the streets of Sofia, have not lost their faith that Bulgaria is a Western country, but they understand very well who is hindering it both from the outside and from the inside. So none of the three who have generated the most power at the moment - Peevski, Borisov and Radev - can be spared from their protest. Even more so, if they continue to converge in their “peaceful“ support for Trump and everyone sees themselves in the mirror like the Bulgarian Obran.
It is foreseeable that when we get to the elections, Gen Z will vote outside this “triangle of power“, and for whom it is too early to say. Whether for the PP-DB, with whom they are together on the street, and whether it will not give birth to new political heroes.