Mr. Zarkov, what is the size of the crisis you have found in the party, calculated according to traditional indicators such as loss of electoral trust, ideological retreat, internal struggles, lobbying for business interests, etc.?
Krum Zarkov: Our starting position is low. We have nowhere else to retreat, it is time to move forward. When the trust of the voters has been waning for years, it is not easy to restore it. This is our goal for the upcoming parliamentary elections – to show that we can represent the left-wing Bulgarians, all those who do not accept the current Bulgaria as fair.
What are your criteria for the changes undertaken in the party leadership and for the inclusion of candidates in the election lists?
Krum Zarkov: The principle with which we came out at the congress, and then before the party, is “renewal through respect“. The BSP can be strong when it moves forward with a constant dialogue between political generations, and not in artificial divisions between old and young. The composition of the new Executive Bureau reflects this understanding. The established leaders of the lists so far also reflect it. By the way, the leaders of the lists are not a product of “my” criteria, but to a very high degree of the criteria of the party organizations throughout the country. The joy is that we find understanding with our local structures in what kind of representatives the BSP needs at the moment. It may sound easy and trivial, but in fact it is a laborious process, a quiet revolution compared to what has been happening until recently, and also in other political parties. I have the freedom to do it, however, because I was elected to the chairmanship without prior agreements, without having made a commitment to anyone that I now have to fulfill through positions in the party leadership or parliament.
"This period of influence is ending"
How well-founded are the comments that under its previous leadership, the BSP also fell under Peevski's power?
Krum Zarkov: The votes in the National Assembly, both on personnel and legislative issues, clearly testify to this influence. But an even more categorical argument is our silence - the socialists - at every stage of the takeover of institutions by the fourth political force. This period is ending. Only the last echoes remain, reflected in some positions of parts of our groups in collective bodies, such as the vote of 8 MPs on the restrictions of sections abroad, for example. They will be finally terminated with the election of a new parliament.
Was the country's entry into the eurozone a sincere motive for the BSP to be in a coalition with GERB and what are the assets and liabilities of it in your opinion?
Krum Zarkov: The eurozone is another stage in deepening Bulgaria's European integration. This goal is fixed in the treaties we have signed. Numerous governments, regular and caretaker, have worked for it. It is present in dozens of programs, positions and election platforms of parties that ran in elections and subsequently governed. However, when the time came for this, the implementation was not up to par. The work was done in a campaign manner and without people being prepared for the large-scale change itself. Natural fears emerged, as in all countries that have gone this way. And these fears were either ignored or unnecessarily exacerbated for political purposes. I do not accept either approach. The euro was met with skepticism by many Bulgarians, and it still is, for one reason - the increase in prices. Inflation is not only related to the introduction of the euro, but it is widely accepted as such. And here another answer was needed. The most important capital of a currency is the trust in it by its users. And this is precisely what the previous government did not realize with arrogance and abstract appeals against speculation, with a refusal to recognize people's concerns as authentic, and not necessarily fanned by some internal and external enemies. It is good that the euro is already a fact in our country, the apocalyptic scenarios did not come true, but at the same time we must admit that the problem with prices and the loss of purchasing power has not only not disappeared, but seems to be deepening.
Do you see the potential for the BSP to pursue a loyal European integration policy towards our partners, or are most socialists by definition socialist nostalgics?
Krum Zarkov: I do not accept the expression “loyal policy towards our partners“. This seems to point to the satellite syndrome, which we must get rid of once and for all. It is as if there is some policy developed by our partners, and our task as a state is to follow it unwaveringly in order to be loyal. First, we ourselves participate and must do so more actively in building this European political line. It must become ours, not the partners', i.e. recognized by Bulgarian citizens, not alien to them. To this end, we must be loyal to the interests of the country, to our program and values, and strive to have them reflected to the maximum extent in our common European policy. The BSP has no need to prove its European affiliation. Our party was established 135 years ago as a formation called upon to modernize and Europeanize Bulgarian society. During the transition years, Bulgaria applied for EU membership during a BSP government and became a full member of the EU during a BSP government. Sergey Stanishev, who is our long-standing chairman, was president of the Party of European Socialists for 11 years. Today, our party enjoys very good positions in both European and global left-wing political movements. We have the ambition to strengthen our role in them.
"I don't know of any other party that has apologized for its political sins"
Do you yourself have the strength and desire to help the BSP in the future to abandon its totalitarian past and acquire a modern social democratic profile?
Krum Zarkov: The past is not something you can erase with an eraser. Let me remind you that one of the most ugly sides of the democratic transition was the rewriting of biographies – how a number of people suddenly gave up their own totalitarian past and transformed themselves into bright democrats to read us morals and edify us with a wag of the finger. Back in 1991, the BSP adopted a declaration of its guilt for the mistakes and crimes of the socialist past and even named specific culprits. I do not know of any other party that has apologized for its political sins of the past. The period of state socialism, the historical processes that led to it, and what happened during these 45 years cannot be undone - purely and simply because it happened. It is a part of us as a nation - both by those who nostalgically recall it and by those who fiercely condemn it. The BSP is a party whose members and sympathizers are from the first group. This is a fact from which I have no intention of running away or hiding. However, it seems to me that we cannot move forward if we only look back. The European left family to which we belong is evolving. What we call social democracy is different from what it was 10 or 20 years ago. The lessons of the rise of neoliberalism are leading the left in Europe towards a clearer socialist policy, oriented towards working people in the global transformation and, above all, towards overcoming new inequalities. The different left parties in individual countries are adapting this common strategy according to their own goals and objectives. We, the Bulgarian socialists, can be an important part of this process.
Can you point out any unique features in the ideological physiognomy of the BSP today?
Krum Zarkov: The BSP is a democratic party in which different opinions are heard, and decisions are sometimes made with very small majorities. The BSP is also the only party that systematically puts on the agenda the problems of inequalities, injustices, and poverty - even when we do not find the strength to impose our decisions. The BSP is a party that knows that left-wing politics is not budgetary handouts, but the building of solidarity systems. This means a serious rethinking of access to financing and the functioning of the education, health, and pension systems. The BSP is a party that is ready to enter into a dispute on these issues with the right-wing and centrist parties, because there are no other leftists, with conviction in its rightness, but also with respect for different views. And it will rely solely on the citizens to win it. In other words, the BSP is unique in that it is a real political organization with goals that are many times more significant than the career development of its chairmen, ministers, and deputies. That is why the BSP changes its leaders more often than others.
Do you have the impression that democracy is threatened by Putin and Trump, who can agree on zones of influence in Europe, so that with our speed of geopolitical movement we will again find ourselves in the post-Soviet era?
Krum Zarkov: It is easiest to blame specific political leaders for destroying the idyll of democracy, that before them everything was going smoothly, but unfortunately they came and turned the wheel. Modern democracy around the world and in Europe suffers from serious systemic problems, including the self-isolation of political elites and the detachment of politics from the citizens' agenda. Populists easily entered through the gap that opened, but also those who promise stability at any cost. And democratic political systems are democratic because they are dynamic, they must constantly develop and reflect changes in societies.
"Categorically against zones of influence"
The Bulgarian Socialist Party, but it seems to me that Bulgaria too, must be categorically against zones of influence, just as we must also be against the recently recycled idea of a "two-speed Europe". We cannot find ourselves in the post-Soviet zone, if only because Russia does not offer anything like that. We are part of Europe, of the European Union, and our place is there. At the same time, it is good to treat history and geography with a little more respect. It is not right for us to be the biggest hawks towards Russia, simply because this means going against the convictions of a huge share of Bulgarians and thus undermining their faith in what we defend - Europe and democracy.
In geopolitical terms, will the BSP be closer to the PP-DB or to Radev's party?
Krum Zarkov: In geopolitical terms, the BSP is closest to the highest value for the left in the world - peace. Every day, death, destruction and devastation somewhere in the world brings losses that cannot be recovered. And let us not be convinced that whoever works for peace works for someone else's victory. If the world community, including the EU institutions, were coordinated and united in their desire for peace, and not in seeking reasons to continue the war, they would have already exerted the necessary pressure to end the Ukrainian conflict - and in a way that would be accepted by the people of Ukraine. Let us recall the words of Paul Valéry: “War is people who do not know each other and kill each other, for the benefit of people who know each other well but do not kill each other”.
We also do not accept the idea that increasing defense spending and joining an arms race will automatically lead to more security for Europe. Yes, Europe must maintain and develop its defense capabilities, coordinate the capabilities of its member states more effectively. But simply encouraging them to arm themselves to the teeth carries more risks than benefits. If the growing trend of Euroscepticism among the European peoples continues, if the gap between poor and rich - people and nations - widens, if the democratic deficit around European institutions deepens - then the gunpowder factories and the millions of drones purchased will be of no help. Because the greatest threat to the security of every European country is the disintegration of our political union. We should not forget this. And let us think: do the billions allocated for armaments, exempt from the strict restrictive budget rules that apply to any other cohesion, social or economic expenditure, help preserve the unity of Europe?
"Radev cannot do the job of the Bulgarian left"
You know Rumen Radev well – Will his future party be a competitor or partner of the BSP?
Krum Zarkov: With his future party, Rumen Radev focuses the expectations of many Bulgarian citizens that he will make a decisive breakthrough in the oligarchic model of governance of the country, which has been crushing and suffocating society for so many years and which was categorically rejected in the many thousands of protests throughout Bulgaria. When the battle is for the rule of law, for a legal state in which people will not be crushed and extorted, we as a party and Radev will look in the same direction. But Rumen Radev cannot do the job of the Bulgarian left. If we have to be honest, there are no such expectations for him. This is our task, as the oldest socialist party in Southeast Europe. We and no one else are the ones who are trying and will try to regain the lost sense of social justice, without which no society can develop normally. A partner for us in the fight for a socially just Bulgaria is anyone who shares this belief, not only parties or leaders, but also unions, civil organizations, people. Partnership - yes, partnership - no.
How will the BSP get involved in dismantling the governance model and how will it make the “turn“, after supporting it until recently?
Krum Zarkov: The BSP has shown over the years of turbulent democratic development that it can realize its mistakes and correct them. The current governance model in Bulgaria is a deviation, a deviation, a kind of turn from political normality. So, whoever participates in the dismantling of this model is walking on the straight path of political normality, and not on the turns of the oligarchy.
Do you have a recipe for how to ethically fight the unethical?
Krum Zarkov: There are no recipes. And political morality, as we know from Machiavelli, does not coincide with human morality - not because the politician is worse than the ordinary citizen, but because he bears moral responsibility for many people and for his cause, not only for himself. But in fact, it is not some naivety, but world history has shown that principled behavior ultimately turns out to be more effective than unprincipled behavior. This is because unprincipledness is conjunctive, leads in different directions, cannot attract sustainable support and is doomed to lose in the long run. While people usually appreciate consistent principle. And although reaching this point takes much longer than the quick enthusiasm caused by some populist decision, it is the only guarantee of significant political success. For the reason that only it is lasting.
Georgi Lozanov talks to Krum Zarkov.