Author: Georgi Lozanov
Will we again let the Great Powers distribute and divide us? Do we like their deputies and greeters? Have we wasted our chance to live in a world without great powers? The concept, by the way, was introduced at the beginning of the 19th century, when after the Napoleonic Wars the Congress of Vienna redrawn the political map of Europe. And this will be repeated more than once, the last time being after World War II, when the Great Powers got along “on a napkin” for zones of influence and which of the other countries falls into which zone.
The new world order is like the one from the 19th century
From then on, relations between them in the free world are determined by international treaties, on the basis of which they participate in voluntary alliances, no matter what their power is and whether it is the USA or Luxembourg. And this worked without problems until Trump started choking on Russian aspirations for a new world order. And it is like the old one from the 19th century - the great powers decide the fates of the weaker, and as of today this new order is feasible by replacing the rule of law with the right of might.
In other words, you have the right, regardless of whether it contradicts the law, to own everything that you have the power to appropriate. A candidate for a great power in the new world order, in addition to Russia and the USA, is potentially China, which, however, has not yet undertaken an actual demonstration of the right to force.
Support from the Kremlin for Radev: what would this mean?
On the other hand, we in Bulgaria are in a hurry to comply with the new order and for the upcoming elections, geopolitical commitments and curtseys are already being sold at the political stall, the historical consequences of which may be far more irreversible than one or another electoral victory. Rumen Radev is taking to the party scene to offer moderate Euroscepticism (like his referendum against the adoption of the euro – the important thing was not to do it now, but later - "the camel is the camel driver") and not so moderate Putinism (like his peacemaking, reduced to denouncing aid for Putin's victims).
If Radev's future party is supported by the Kremlin according to the Romanian or similar scenario, there will be no doubt that he was the choice of the Russian secret services (in the person of Gen. Reshetnikov), implemented with focus groups that were supposed to find a candidate for Bulgarian president who was NATO in form and Soviet in content. It also remains unclear how his favoritism towards Putin (against whom he has not said a word) falls into his pre-election package of "fighting the mafia", considering the "textbook" mafiaization of Putin's regime.
Bulgaria ranks next to dictators
Peevski and Borisov, who Radev called mafia, were not late with their defensive reaction in search of their great patron, but along the lines of selfless Trumpism. The government in resignation, under the personal dictation of Peevski, as he himself boasted, brought Bulgaria into the Peace Council (the “private” UN) of Trump together with Hungary – the only two EU countries among the dictators at the meeting.
Taking this move without publicity and legitimacy here also left doubt about the hidden motivation: is Peevski again attempting to “demagnetize“ his reputation. And although the council in question is a manifestation, at the very least, of a purposeful undermining of the role of the main guarantor of our security – NATO, the leader of the New Age, who obviously continues to experience himself as an informal head of state, pathetically stated: “It is an honor and a privilege for Bulgaria to be part of the construction of the new, fairer and more stable world order“. What will apparently be considered fair in this case is what the great powers will agree on when they get back the “napkin of the world“.
A deal with the Kremlin for Bulgaria too?
They have probably already achieved it to some extent for the Balkans. This was announced, albeit half-heartedly, by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov himself: “We have greater opportunities for contacts with the US in the Balkans, regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries in the region… Such contacts exist, but they have not yet led to any positive or even concrete results“.
I don't want to be too suspicious, but I know that dictatorships lie to the last detail - like Putin, for example, claimed that he had no intention of attacking Ukraine until he attacked it. Lavrov also suggests something, but immediately tries to divert attention from the "concrete results". And I wouldn't be surprised if they are an agreement for the next regular government in Bulgaria to be under the control of the Kremlin and with a prime minister who is NATO in form and a Soviet general in content. And against us, Trump gets Putin's concessions to the American leader's ambitions towards Greenland or Iran, for example.
The great powers ultimately cooperate when they impose the right to force, so that no one imagines that it can escape them. And while Borisov and Peevski think they are attracting the US into their election battle with Radev, they have boarded his geopolitical boat, if that matters to them at all.
The world of brute force versus the world of integrity and rules
I see the condescending smile of the realists – such are the realities, don't bother us with fictions. The opposite is true – such are the plans of the Great Powers, which will remain fiction only if the weaker do not obey the stronger, as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called on them to do. His speech was the Davos event, not another narcissistic Trump stunt called the "Peace Council" with a $1 billion entry fee.
The biggest danger, according to Carney, is to adapt to the stronger in order to "buy safety" and give up our values: "We must not allow the rise of brute force to blind us to the fact that legitimacy, integrity and rules will retain their power if we exercise them together." And that "together" includes not only Canada, but also the EU, the UK, Australia... Enough to conduct politics not by flirting with the Great Powers, but by “value-based realism“, as Carney defines it.
Let us recall Bulgaria's fateful mistakes
The question is who will embody it in our politics without fear of brute force both in the world and in the country. And how many voters will protect it with their votes. Anyone who has doubts should remember what happened to us when, in order to save ourselves from a dictatorship, we entered into a coalition with it. Because of its alliance with one of the great totalitarianisms of the 20th century - the National Socialist one, Bulgaria not only suffered all the consequences of the loss in World War II, but was also subdued for 45 years by the other great totalitarianism - the Soviet one. Only after November 10th did we close our national doors to dictatorship, now are we going to open them again?