Comment by Ivaylo Noyzi Tsvetkov:
Let's, as some reasonable and mature people, step out of the dichotomous and often feeble-minded "philiophobic" narrative for a moment and try to profile the "Thing" with vague outlines, called "Rumen Radev's political project". For now, it only has a very slight density and that's all; so let's smile kindly and understandingly at all those who shout "Radev will sweep them away" and raise their hands to possibly have breakfast from his steely military right hand.
I can imagine two options. The first is more systematic and includes grocer's assumptions about where these at least over 700,000 "sweeping" votes will come from (here I hasten to emphasize - if the future Something does not become the first political force at the first possible moment, after it has declared itself, I suggest you do not wait for it. The stories about how this could happen gradually, for example, at first the third or fourth force, and then germinate like a bean in cotton, are precisely just stories. And the "Something" will quickly turn into "something" with a lowercase letter).
There is no money for Radev's project, because the Kremlin is giving it to Ukraine
And why a "systemic option"? Because in this case, someone has to shell out hundreds of millions for the project, and this someone is not giving just like that, and is also busy bombing Ukraine and is most likely not giving a damn about what will happen to Radev and his project, at least until he shows some potential. So, the only way to sweep here, except through volatile non-voters, is to somehow “convince” the corporate and administrative vote, which currently, as if by “jus pecuniae” (”birthright” of money, if you will allow this Latin joke) belongs to the status quo.
That is, it is a difficult problem to solve: you have a new project, you are an architect, but you are facing the Leviathan of a wonderfully oiled electoral machine, ineradicably rooted in clientelism. And to count on the fact that, for example, the well-employed proletarians of intellectual labor, called the "administration", are sick Russophiles and will rush after you right away, is not "very okay" (as the "Alpha" generation says).
In general, to count on the Russophiles, i.e. to bet "everything on red", in our country for at least 15 years means that it will come out black. The frivolous sour talk from New Year's addresses like "the current political class has driven us to the abyss" may resonate here and there in the shrunken souls of socialist-nostalgics, but this is not how evolution is done. I emphasize, "evolution" - that is, if Radev, with purely legal means, but without structures and only with the guard of senior militiamen-revanchists behind him, actually reaches for political power.
The "Rumen of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha" option
Therefore and somehow logically comes the second, "revolutionary", and seemingly the only option. I call him "Rumen of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha" for fun. And one woman said that they were whispering about something similar to him – hence the notorious delay of the thing in question. Here, with apologies, I thought of Mel Gibson as William Wallace, who in the film shouts to his Scots "hoooold, hoooold", i.e. not now, let them come a little closer, not now, wait, wait… now! And this immediately reminded me that Rumen Radev is a general without an army; it is even ridiculous to continue the comparison with the arrival of Simeon II for a hundred reasons, including that there is not even an ounce of a revolutionary situation felt. I won't even start about charisma...
In fact, what a Simeon, what five euros - Rumen Radev should abandon his immediate dream of succeeding Borisov on the throne of Bulgarian politics, and he also tragically overestimates the notorious urge for a new savior. The "turning of the tables" should have happened during the raised fist, no matter how much this would have meant a sharp reformatting of power. No, the president, like the beloved Vasily Lokhankin from "The Golden Calf", simply continued to lie on the couch of "Dondukov" 2 and from there pour out annoying spam, which his advisors, the poor ones, consider to be an opposition political platform. And now it is very likely that his Eurasian Varvara has left him (with all due respect to Mrs. Radeva, just a metaphor).
Why does Radev have no electoral potential
Radev, by the way, is betting on three obvious things - – “I am a soldier after all, I will bring order, I want to be a father figure, and I also want to be the Bulgarian Orban“, “The EU did not fulfill your dreams, but brought this political thieving power“ and “never against Russia“. Some of them echo in some echo chambers, but I highly doubt that he is gaining real electoral potential in this way. To the point where I feel like joking bitterly – and are you actually asking the Batkovites about this political project or are you just drawing something?
The problem is also the following: Radev is not and cannot claim to be something new. He still comes from a complicated concubine with Cornelia's BSP and "We continue the change" (in the latter case, he swept up like a Gogol hero and started calling them "charlatans"). All this does not go unnoticed even in today's Bulgarian reality, in which remembering no longer even lasts the notorious three days. In other words, there is a great danger that this Dimitrovgrad lion will perform the exercise “by the Perlovska River I sat down and cried“.
And this move by Radev was not far-sighted
Which reminds me that the move with the anti-euro does not seem very far-sighted, especially in a year, when everyone will have calmed down and will have seen that the euro does not bite (and the only problem with it is when it is gone). Including the nests of Russophiles, who know very well where their immediate domestic interest lies, not to mention the education of children, etc.
There is also something sad here, because I strongly doubt that the few voters in Bulgaria in 2026 will still peck at pure populism. That is, President Radev does not have the potential to overturn the system and is likely to suffer the fate of Parvanov.
And in fact, we pay too much attention to him.