Bulgaria votes as pro-Russian former president leads the polls. Is there any risk Bulgaria could turn into the next Hungary?
Posted by Substratas@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 263 comments
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/bulgaria-votes-pro-russian-former-president-leads-polls-2026-04-19/
AccomplishedQuit6535@reddit
Interesting how everyone who is not a Brussels puppet and is against the war and against funding ukrainian regime is labeled as pro Russian.
Vesko85@reddit
I am against the war, but Russia need to pay for everything they did. It's that simple. Even after the war Europe must stay far away from any connections with this country.
AccomplishedQuit6535@reddit
There is a reason why Russia invaded and what led to the invasion. It's not like Putin just woke up one day and decided to invade. And you being from Bulgaria should be grateful to Russia because if it wasn't for them you would still be part of the Ottoman Empire.
MagisterLivoniae@reddit
Shouldn't the people of Bulgaria care more who's pro-Bulgarian among their national election candidates? The same for pro-Hungarian, pro-Czech etc. in respective countries for that matter. That EU propaganda's 'pro-Russian' narrative is being imposed just to install Ursula's reichsleiter in the eastern territories.
Bubbly-Paramedic1101@reddit
no, they speak different languages
LivingMundane1965@reddit
Dear Bulgarians, why?
CypriotGreek@reddit
See you all in 3 months?
Taht_Funky_Dude@reddit
No no, they have a vacation in summer. So it will be September at the earliest.
Weak-Year2333@reddit
Putins bitch
tinmanjk@reddit
no, him being pro-Russian is just the campaign of the local pro-EU party to mobilize their electorate
Mesenterium@reddit
He is objectively pro-russian and isn't discreet about it.
Dimi7rozavar@reddit
Since when being openly neutral is the same as being pro-Russian?
PickyPaige@reddit
When a bully beats a weaker person and you don't do anything, you might as well be siding with the bully. To stay neutral at the sight of opression is wrong. Nobosy likes fence sitters.
asdf152@reddit
He is pro-russian and his campaign is paid with russian money.
tinmanjk@reddit
lol. Evidence?
TurdEye69@reddit
In his promotional video from a few days ago he was shaking hands with Putin. Quite a long handshake it was. I am unsure of where to find the video though.
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
Which just shows he desires balanced relations with the Russia and the EU, whilst inside the EU.
TurdEye69@reddit
Such relationships are fictional. It’s just not possible in the current situation.
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
False, look at Greece, Austria or Turkey.
TurdEye69@reddit
Yes, I’m looking.
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
They’re all doing better than your country and have deep ties to Russia.
Mysterious-Put1459@reddit
Lol. Firstly they don't have deep ties with Russia. Not even Orban's Hungary has deep ties with Russia. An example of deep ties with Russia is Lukashenko's Belarus. Secondly, Bulgaria has higher GDP growth, lower debt to GDP, lower unemployment, higher household income growth in recent years (2020-2025) than all of those countries. How are they doing better? Apart from Austria which was already developed before EU, both Greece and Turkiye are run down shithole propped up by tourism just like Bulgaria. Your username feels Romanian, and the that applies to your country as well.
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
Absolutely braindead take.
Turkey has had higher average GDP and real wage growth than Bulgaria, and Greece has higher living standards. Weirdly enough, Austria, despite bordering Germany, has more independence as pertaining to foreign policy than your country or mine.
Deep ties means links with roots that go deep in institutions, parties, public perceptions and financial intricacies. Belarus has more than just deep ties, it is a very close ally, quite frankly a vassal-state.
Mysterious-Put1459@reddit
Don't mistake Austria's neutrality for a willful swing toward Russia. At that point you'd be calling Belgium pro-Russian for not seizing the frozen Russian assets. For some odd reason Austria feels perpetually indebted to the Russians for backing out of occupation in the 50's even though such treaties are toilet paper for Putin (as proved by the Budapest memorandum in the case of Ukraine). Nevertheless, they are still not deeply tied to Russia. As for the other claims, could I have the source behind those conclusions
Andreuw5@reddit
Bro, Putin (just like Trump) is psychopath. One has to be shit crazy to make busines with Putan
reverber@reddit
It isn’t “balance” when one side is so far from the center. Americans have fallen for that same lie. Moving the center doesn’t create balance.
NecroVecro@reddit
Изказване на Радев, качено на официалната му Фейсбук страница: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Am25wszkg/
Изказване на Радев против санкциите поставени срещу Русия след анексирането на Крим: https://bntnews.bg/bg/a/rumen-radev-za-poreden-pt-se-obyavi-za-otmyana-na-sanktsiite-sreshchu-rusiya
Изказване на Радев пред журналисти две седмици след началото на войната в Украйна: https://nova.bg/news/view/2022/03/08/360193/
Korin23@reddit
Before Hungarian elections most of the people from his party were saying that Orban is an example for good leader in Europe, him being obviously pro Russian he has positive talks about Trump as well, if not hardcore Russian asset he is at least a simp, which might be worse
Substratas@reddit (OP)
I believe you, but Reuters is known for being quite neutral which is why I was like 🤯
kickfly@reddit
Don't believe them. His party cannot answer whose is Crimea and who started the war in Ukraine. Radev wants us to back away from any future deals with Ukraine and to bring them and Russia to the negotiating table. How and on what terms, they cannot (aka won't) answer. Bear in mind that he became president with the support of the very (at the time) pro-Russian Bulgarian Socialist Party.
tinmanjk@reddit
Crimea is Russian and always has been:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimea
kickfly@reddit
In your own gotcha it shows that the Tatars were there for longer than Russians ever where... this has to be ragebait.
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
Stop living in the 1930’s. By this logic all of Israel, half of Poland, Alsace-Lorraine, the Western half of Ukraine, etc… all have to be given “back” to their pre-WW2 inhabitants
Rare_Opportunity2419@reddit
No, Crimea was not 'always' Russia (no more than Bulgaria was 'always' Turkish because it was in the Ottoman Empire) and its not Russian now. It is Ukrainian territory under an illegal Russian military occupation.
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
Most of its inhabitants wanted and voted to be part of Russia, which shouldn’t be surprising given that Russia is wealthier and safer than Ukraine. Oh, and most Crimeans are Russians.
kickfly@reddit
Which inhabitants, the ones that were booted off, the ones that disappeared or the ones that protested the closure of the Crimean parliament and the new admin?
Pristine-Breath6745@reddit
Crimea voted tp be part of unraine at the desolution of tje USSR. There was no other legitimate election held afterwards.
Substratas@reddit (OP)
So Reuters isn’t lying. I KNEW IT!!!
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
Reuters has a pro-US, pro-liberal bias. It is well known.
Samtulp6@reddit
Reuters is Pro-US? Lol, have you seen their reporting? They aren’t exactly ‘pro’ the current government.
Reuters is US centric, which is something completely different than biased.
Also, any reasonable moral person objects to russia’s illegal invasions, this is not a ‘either side has a valid argument’ kind of situation.
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
I object to Russia’s illegal invasion just like I object to the countless illegal US invasions, bombings, assassinations, coups and blockades of the past 80 years.
Doesn’t matter they’re not pro-Trump, they’re pro-US. Learn the difference.
ExoticAd7546@reddit
Definitely not. He is in the Trump Putin Orban etc camp and has said/proven that many timea.
Acework23@reddit
Good, crimea is not Ukraines
tinmanjk@reddit
well, we live in the era of everything that's not far left is far right, so in that sense he is "pro-Russia".
The biggest thing that the pro-EU people have against him is that he said that Crimea is Russian - which is the most sane view given the history and demographics of the region for the past 100 years.
Rare_Opportunity2419@reddit
Crimea is Russian occupied Ukrainian territory. Invading a territory and holding a fake referendum at gunpoint doesn't change that. And Crimea's demographics are the result of Stalin's genocide of the Crimean Tatars in the 1940s.
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
Stalin was Georgian and that has nothing to do with Crimea’s current desire to be part of Russia, si ce over 80% of Crimeans are Russians.
Gunnerpain98@reddit
He is a master at utilising his support ruthlessly. He is labelled as a Russian proxy now but people seem to forget that the socialist party (BSP) which now won’t even make it to the parliament paved his way to the presidency in 2016, after which he discarded them like it was nothing. Only he knows where he really stands and what he aims for
Ok_Eagle_3079@reddit
He isn't pro russia like Orban. He is more Neutral/ Russia leaning.
Substratas@reddit (OP)
legitematehorse@reddit
Lol! He is absolutely a rusaian asset, and everyone withbmore than two brain cells knows it.
WSportsBet@reddit
He's not pro-Russian. He's even worse - he's a Woke idiot. He brought to Power people, who were Harvard educated morons, who ruined our country financially.
Substantial_Set540@reddit
Sheinbaum aplaudira el regreso de su tierra al comunismo
zeh_pope@reddit
Not really, while he is kind of pro-russian, he's not anti-EU.
and his ideas of policies also seem very different.
I mean, in the end, it's just, wait and see of course, first thing to see, is if he can keep the government from falling within its first year.
latespresso@reddit
Is it just me, or does it seem like Bulgaria goes to elections every year and the results are always different? Not that I’m jealous, just wondering how…
zeh_pope@reddit
more than every year, I think this was the 8th time in 5 years..
Miami-Novice@reddit
Unfortunately, these days, it’s hard to even imagine democracy as a Turk.
jdreboj@reddit
Twice a year* for the past 4 years. It's great. I promise. Send help.
Te6kiGomna@reddit
I would argue that the results are always the same. Nothing ever happens.
HumanMan00@reddit
Explain tho? We have one main "testical" who is always something important and the rest kinda rotate but you dont have thaht right?
DoolioArt@reddit
it's the other way around, main testicles are being rotated, we have the deepest deep state in the balkans lol. bia, mup, rts haven't been reformed once.
ReasonResitant@reddit
You have got one guy who hangs onto power publicly, we have got a couple of guys that get media intermediaries to go and push the buttons for them.
The public faces are fired sometimes. But the money and interest always stays in the same place.
HumanMan00@reddit
That sounds bad too but i still think we r worst off. 😅
elzizooo@reddit
As a Bulgarian from Serbia yeah Serbia is definitely worse(t)
HumanMan00@reddit
Yeah, few are the places where ppl pull one way and the gov.pulls the other way as here.
BardhyliX@reddit
Well if multiple parties share high percentage of votes and they don't get along you can't pass shit in the parliament so you're forced to redo elections until there's a majority government or the coalition gets along... I guess that's what's happening.
Capital-Driver7843@reddit
Affirmative
ExoticAd7546@reddit
None of the parties that pass the 4% get along. Including the new party which will likely win. Except Borisov's GERB and Peevski's DPS which are hoghly corrupt and have been in power for more than years
Emotional_Band9694@reddit
Makes sense how the testical is related to a Bulgarian erection
SevereLight3660@reddit
It’s same same but different, but still the same
MidwinterSun@reddit
It's a combination of 3 factors.
Factor 1: One of the parties that participates in elections and in basically every government relies on paying their voters - voter fraud, essentially. They always have roughly the same number of votes in any election.
Factor 2: Another of the parties relies on a combination of the above described voter fraud and manipulated vote - there are places in the countryside where they have extreme influence and if people want to survive, they need to be in line with the party. They've taken a page out of the communists' book. Their results vary slightly more because they do have genuine supporters but there's still the unmovable core as well.
Factor 3: We have abysmal voter turnout. Like 30% abysmal. What did Hungary have in their elections last week, like 80%? So, this terrible voter turnout means that the manipulated and paid for votes count for a lot more and give these parties a larger percentage in the final results, but usually still not enough to give them a majority.
The result of these three factors combined is that it's very difficult to form a stable government. Failure to do so sends us to the next elections. And even when a government is formed, it ends up being deeply corrupt. Now, the people who genuinely vote and want better for our country usually have a not-so-good opinion about said corruption model. Which eventually leads to the inevitable protests (like the December ones), then the government resigns, and we hold yet another election.
Euro_Borealis@reddit
I dont get it, if people are willing protest, why arent they willing to participate in the election? 30% turnout is so small that it almost guarantees a weird result
MidwinterSun@reddit
The people willing to protest are about maybe 10% if you calculate generously. Enough for a mass protest but nowhere near enough for an election.
So far it seems the voter turnout is better than the last election. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
Imaginary-Brick-1614@reddit
I strongly suspect if we got 80% turnout the results would be much much worse - we’d get 40% facebook conspiracy theory idiots in parliament instead of the usual 10-15%
Basically all the additional votes would be idiots.
Dear-Ad1582@reddit
And we Romanians bitch about 60% presence - then again our electoral law is weird. All Romanian citizenship holder are on that list. 18Milion of them. Now resident populations is 19.5M that give us around 16 M voters that are actually residing in Romania. And we have no easy mail vote or eVote... 60% is peak for us.
Plus, regardless how much some are yelling, earlier election are kind of impossible to achieve. President can't disband the parliament, only if 3 gvnmt proposals fail to be voted. Or each MP to resign.. That will not happened.
RegionSignificant977@reddit
We also don't have mail\e-vote. 6.5mln people can vote, which might be more than current population in Bulgaria, as we also have a lot of people abroad.
Your laws are very similar to ours. If 3 major parties elected can't form a government, another election run is issued. And it is happening. Also when government is elected by the Parliament somehow, it don't last for long.
Gunnerpain98@reddit
No, they’re actually all the same. We always do elections because we can never form a government since nobody wants to work together and whenever we do the Russian Trojan horses, the liberal frauds or both take it down. It’s all so tiresome
Breaking_Bread_420@reddit
I don't wanna sound like an ass because I haven't lived in Bulgaria and I don't know how bad the situation is apart from online news in english, I have however lived in an Orbánist regime for 16 years...
The voter turnout in Bulgaria is abismally low. Only 39% of people actually voted last time? I understand that none of your political parties may seem like the best choice. But a functioning government with "meh" parties in charge is still better than no government and total political stagnation. It's entirely on the Bulgarian people to change that by engaging in politics.
Hungarian people were tired of politics too. No matter what the opposition tried, Orbán and his croneys were too entrenched. And then the nation decided to wake up, a record number of people, 79% decided they had had enough of stagnation, and we went voting. And change actually happened
RegionSignificant977@reddit
The main reason for 40% turnout on last election is that it was 7 in a row for less than 4 years. We had political party that won the election, killed the energy of 2020/21 protest and died. The managed to pass minimum in previous elections, but now they wouldn't.
Like you, we have the same people on power since 2009. The power is not only in the Parliament and in the hands of the cabinet, but there are a lot of "independent" structures that are plagued with loyal people, just like orban has influence everywhere. Now there's a new player and turnout can be higher. But I don't have a hope of real change.
Gunnerpain98@reddit
A lot of people here like to compare Borisov to Orban but the truth is that we were never in a situation like that of Hungary with Orban or Serbia with Vucic so it’s not really comparable. Yeah, GERB is definitely corrupt but so is every other party over here. Another fact is that we have never allowed anybody who actively sabotages the EU to get to power. Couple that with the fact that a government only survives for about 6 to 10 months if one is even formed in the first place before the numerous snap election and you can get why people are fed up. And while I congratulate you on finally getting rid of Orban, you still have to be vigilant about the new cabinet so the story doesn’t repeat itself in a different way
Artemis_1944@reddit
In countries like Bulgaria or Romania, the last 20 years or so have destroyed most sense of civic duty in people, because almost every time we had people we thought might change somethign in the country for the better, it all got ruined again. Those people either have been on the side of the corrupt government mafias from the get-go, or ended up swiftly being corrupted themselves, or forced to resign and leave the country (like Kovesi). At this point, at least in my country in Romania, almost nobody has any kind of faith that a president or a party can change anything. We are all depressed and disillusioned.
We would turn out for the lesser evil at the voting stage, but I cannot stress enough how every time in the past 20 years we have voted for the lesser evil, it turned out to be the EXACT same evil.
Silver_Quail4018@reddit
I have only read what people say, but from what I understand, just like in my country, the internal political parties are in conflict with each other and the governmental structure is ruined since no one agrees with each other. I believe that this is intentional, to keep things the same and to avoid changes that would be against the business of the internal 'mafia'.
With Orban, good, or bad, the government has been stable for a very long time and others had little to say. People had time to hate one single thing and one single person.
But you don't know who to trust, or hate, in countries like Bulgaria, or Romania. And people are just confused since everyone is lying. One candidate can promise that he can save the country, but in reality is working for the same people like the previous candidate.
The major issue is also that a lot of these parties are funded by the same people and even if the propaganda is top notch, the population ends up voting for the same people and nothing actually changes since the position is just a shell.
TheFennecFx@reddit
Sometimes it is every year, other twice per year. Record was 3 times in 2021.
LibertyChecked28@reddit
We vote the European way: If the results are unsatisfactory for Brussels we vote again till the option Ursulla wants its chosen- too bad my countrymen are able far too stubborn, or unable to catch a hint at all, so we have to vote like 7 times a year.
Suitable-Decision-26@reddit
We have a new national hobby. I have to say, periods of caretaker governments have not been that bad, compared to the actual governments before.
HorrorsPersistSoDoI@reddit
People are extremely stupid, apathetic and lazy. That's why. They won't go to vote, but later will passionately comment on the results and the politicians
RegionSignificant977@reddit
That's eight election run since 2021.
krokadul@reddit
We have many incompetent politicians to choose from
Aspect2Live@reddit
Not every year, just 10 times (8 Parlimentary, 1 Presidental and 1 EU) in the last 5 years. But results are similar more or less, with no majority power. The reason results vary is politicians do dumb things like this, for a Turk to understand it is like AKP and CHP doing a coalition and governing the country in rotation after promising to judge each other in court. It is not sustainable and causes outrage, people go to other smaller parties, results seems to change but because parties are small (under threshold) they don't get counted and we have the same result, people lose trust so they don't attend the elections, results go lower and have this in loop.
This election probably will cause another election too. We have 3/4 major players, and they do not want to play together (and their idealogies wont allow too). So no majority = new election 🤣
smoothieeeee12@reddit
Dont be jealous , this is maybe 7-8 time for 5 years. And always the same.. nothing happens. Im starting to think we are just bad material as nation :D
scales_and_fangs@reddit
Absolutely yes, there is such a risk.
Especially now with the ellection results. He might be the most (relatively) eurosceptic prime minister so far
ZRB_Red@reddit
"pro-Russia" ofc when he takes a neutral stance he is labelled as pro-Russian...
NecroVecro@reddit
Being against the sanctions and accusing Ukriane of wanting to continue this war is not neutral.
Infact, if you look at Radev's statements, he tends to criticise Ukraine and the EU a lot more than Russia. Whenever he talks about ending the war, the pressure is always on Ukraine and the EU, it's never Russia's responsibility.
Also there's a recent post on his Facebook page that says that despite the propaganda, the bulgarians love Russia: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Am25wszkg/
ZRB_Red@reddit
Those accussations are true in my opinion and EU deserves the criticism for prolonging the war way longer than they should be.
I can't open the post for some reason, but no one can deny that there a lot of people siding with Russia in Bulgaria. Most people I know do, either that or they agree that Ukraine should have ceded to demands. I personally side a bit towards the lesser rebels from DPR or LPR, since they are the ones who took the brunt for the longest amount of time.
Radiant_Juggernaut68@reddit
Rare sight of a sane person. 🤝
NecroVecro@reddit
What are they?
Why are they demanding Ukriane to withdraw their troops from the uncaptured parts of Donbas Oblast if they have completed their objective?
In what way?
I disagree, more would have been lost if the EU didn't side with Ukraine and it's kind of crazy to me to be blaming the victim instead of the invader.
Radev likes to talk about two brothers fighting, but he very rarely criticises Russia for it and his criticism is usually about violating international law and not all of the death and destruction that's being caused.
There are a lot, but he is claiming that the whole nation loves Russia which is far from true.
He also talks about the futile efforts of anti-Russian propaganda.
To me it's clear from those words that he is biased towards Russia.
Most I know don't, but we all live in social bubbles + it depends on the age.
Rare_Opportunity2419@reddit
Being 'neutral' about the invasion IS pro-Russian.
ZRB_Red@reddit
That sounds silly?
Rare_Opportunity2419@reddit
Neutrality in the face of aggression is taking the aggressor's side.
ZRB_Red@reddit
Keep in mind that Bulgarian minorities were harrassed by the more radical Ukrianians. Otherwise Bulgaria doesn't have much else to do with this conflict. USA is providing the recon, Europe is providing the materials and Ukraine is (mostly doing final assemblies and) providing the meat.
His reasoning to pushing for an immediate stop is to prevent lives from being taken and if you actually listened to his statements these Western medias would know that much.
rogomatic@reddit
Hostilities will immediately stop when Russia withdraws from all illegally occupied territories. Still waiting for the "neutral" and "balanced" Radev to support this position.
Rare_Opportunity2419@reddit
>His reasoning to pushing for an immediate stop is to prevent lives from being taken and if you actually listened to his statements these Western medias would know that much.
Capitulating to the Russians is not going to bring peace. The Russians are the ones who started the war, the ones who want the war and they could end it at any time they wish by going home. Russia is not trying to negotiate a peace, they're trying to win the war by forcing Ukraine into a position where they are unable to defend themselves against the inevitable future Russian invasion.
Hence why they are trying to force Ukraine into a ceasefire with 'demilitarization' (restricting the size of Ukraine's military and denying them the ability to get arms from the West) and to give up defensible territory which the Russians have not taken. Agreeing to such demands will just mean more war but to Russia's advantage.
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
This is patently false. Both sides can end this war. Russia has no interest in continuing this war after achieving its objectives in Eastern and Southern Ukraine and pacifying the rest of Western and Central Ukraine.
Here is the world’s most prominent geopolitical expert explaining why Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, whilst criminal, is not unprovoked.
ZRB_Red@reddit
I've read this, the author is a bit eh at times, i think he misses out the CIA plot that admitted to sponsoring terrorism but at least it gets the gist.
ZRB_Red@reddit
They started the war yeah, but guess who provoked them for 9 years straight? Protecting your minorities is a very legitimate reason to fight, which other nations (like Britain against Greece) have exercised in the past.
Also they literally were negotiating for peace, i dont know how you missed that, and every time and NATO alongside the Ukrainian leadership rejected or sabotages them every time, Russians then gained more territory and the concessions became worse and worse. Even if we assume that Russia would invade Ukraine again for whatever reason after they dealt with them, that would be way better than it is now. War should have stopped with the first rounds of the peace talks, not whatever this meatgrinder is.
a_bright_knight@reddit
that's objectively wrong.
Rare_Opportunity2419@reddit
It is correct in terms of the effect of your actions.
a_bright_knight@reddit
no, it's not.
Rare_Opportunity2419@reddit
It is because it helps the aggressor.
a_bright_knight@reddit
No it doesn't. Helping the aggressor helps the aggressor. Stop twisting words, twisting definition of word "neutral" and twisting objective logic of tje definition.
Rare_Opportunity2419@reddit
Helping the aggressor isn't neutral.
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
Yes, which would mean supporting Russia militarily or financially. Something Bulgaria is neither capable nor willing to do.
Is not condemning Israel’s genocide or the US’ repeated criminal invasions and bombings around the world being pro-US, or just being silent/neutral on the issue?
a_bright_knight@reddit
and being neutral doesn't help the aggressor. You're almost there
Single_Hall_2974@reddit
Every single european country needs to turned against america and that apartheid and cancer state of israel
Open-Investigator-52@reddit
Heaven forbid people have different opinion than the EU hive mind.
Kobajadojaja@reddit
Heaven forbid people dont like autocrats or you would be very upset.
Open-Investigator-52@reddit
Lmao everyone I don't like is a bad guy huh?
Alector87@reddit
Wait, Radev is pro-Russian? Wasn't he an officer before becoming a politician, who served in Nato positions? What am I missing? Am I confusing him with someone else?
ExoticAd7546@reddit
Just by being a Bulgarian general that automatically makes him a 'Nato General' but what does it matter? He uses that to position himself as not pro russian but his statements and actions speak for themselves. You can just look up his embarrassing meeting with Zelensky a few years ago that should be enough
Alector87@reddit
I didn't merely say that he was a general in a Nato-member country. I believe he even studied in a military school in the US, didn't he?
P.s. We have reactionary, pro-russsian, supposedly anti-imperialist, in Greece as well, and we have been in the alliance almost from the beginning. But usually you won't find them sent to Nato staff positions or allied military academies and schools.
ExoticAd7546@reddit
Yeah that's true he has studied in the US doesn't mean he is an anti EU or pro russian agent. Anyways we are cooked looks like he is going to have a majority by himself gl hf
skinnernsk@reddit
Sorry, friends, I'm not very knowledgeable about politics. The thing is, I'm from Russia, and I've been spending a lot of time on Reddit lately, and some of the comments amaze me. From what I've read, Russia is a very stupid country, with no money, no technology, no economy, and absolutely nothing else. All we can do is sell oil and gas. We're a complete zero on the international stage, mired in lies and corruption unparalleled anywhere in the world. A gas station country. Meanwhile, we have incompetent and aggressive leadership, stupid diplomacy, disgusting intelligence agencies, and evil plans to take over the world.
Meanwhile, we elected a US president. In Europe, every country has pro-Russian politicians who everyone constantly fights against, but sometimes they win elections, of course, only thanks to the lies and corruption that only exist in Russia. We're sowing unrest around the world, destroying economies, driving up prices in Europe and the US, and not a single bad thing in the world happens without the "hand of the Kremlin." Where the hell am I living?
Familiar-Custard-216@reddit
No, because Bulgaria is completely tied to Germany, both politically and economically. Bulgarian governments will never veto German decisions ever. It’s basically a puppet state without any foreign policy.
He’s also a populist “pro-Bulgarian” interests leader, not pro Russian. Bulgarian public opinions currently align with the war stopping and the normalisation of Russian relations, hence why he’s “pro Russian” in a sense. But he will never take a pro Russian position not aligning with Bulgarian public opinion
I just want to say to OP as well that the Bulgarian Reddit community is very pro liberal and pro EU. I would argue they are pro EU vote rather than Bulgarians, because they always defend the EU at the expense of Bulgaria, and are very anti Russia as well as suspiciously pro Turkey.
They are a very very small part of Bulgarian society, and don’t represent it in any shape or form
NecroVecro@reddit
GERB is definitely influenced by Germany but there's no proof that the others are.
You are right though, that he won't have the same power Orban does.
Source on bulgrians wanting normalisation of relations with Russia?
Also being against implementing sanctions and fear mongering that they will destroy the economy is definitely pro Russian.
Accusing Ukraine of prolonging the war and constantly putting the pressure on the EU and Ukraine to stop the war is also pro Russian, as he doesn't out that same pressure on Russia.
Ah, the good old "if they disagree with me they are bots" but with more vague generalisarion.
What does "at the expense of Bulgaria" mean?
Also what does "pro Turkey" in this case mean? Most users I see, who are anti Russia, tend to hate Erdogan and DPS/APS.
People on reddit are definitely more liberal (although at this point it feels a bit more balanced, at least in the Bulgarian sub), but what's your source that most people aren't pro EU and anti Russia? How did you determine that?
Mysterious-Put1459@reddit
Saying "align with the war stopping" is deliberately vague and manipulative stance. What Radev means by "the war stopping" is Ukraine stop fighting back, Russia winning and so the war stops. When the war stops, we can all forgive and forget and start doing business with Russia like nothing ever happened. But that won't happen. Russia will be phased out regardless if Radev or Putin or whoever else likes that.
The Bulgarians on Reddit are definitely liberal, and that's okay. This platform's userbase consists of younger people (in their 20s and 30s) who are more open-minded. If he wants conservative closed-minded userbase he should head over to Facebook where he can engage with a plethora of older folks (40s, 50s, 60s) who are a majority of population in Bulgaria.
I don't get the word "bot". I always imagine that to be a fake person or someone purposefully spreading fake news. So by "Eu bots" one would think this is some kind of European Union propaganda operation to influence the Bulgarian populace into westernizing, hating Russia, loving Turkiye or whatever else he seems to be against. In reality, the EU doesn't have to do anything except show reality. The EU is better economically, socially and culturally than Russia. I doesn't take a genius to understand why young people would rather associate with a sphere of prosperity instead of authoritarian savages who are in a different war every decade. Then he turned it into a comical peak populism with "they always defend the EU at the expense of Bulgaria". He's so patriotic that he'd be hating his own compatriots in order to protect his beloved Russians. This is why the nation is so divided when one has near zero empathy to his own people and resorts to villainizing them in order to push his agenda. And then again why are the EU and Bulgaria treated as separate entities? Bulgaria is in the EU, thus a stronger EU means stronger Bulgaria. Why are we acting like it's the 1990s and Bulgaria is neutral, hanging between the East and the West?
Familiar-Custard-216@reddit
Firstly, nowhere here have I said that I am pro Russia, or alluded to that. The fact that you immediately jumped to calling me a pro Russian clearly shows the defence mechanism of you guys when confronted
A bot is really a fake persona which parrots opinions on social media for a specific political entity.
If you think the EU doesn’t have campaigns to change opinions of countries like Bulgaria, located in strategic parts of Europe, you are a simpleton. USA, EU, Russia,China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia all have propaganda campaigns and even sponsor bot accounts to change public opinion in foreign countries
Eu and Bulgaria are treated separately because they are separate, and have separate interests? Perfect example is Bulgaria’s public opinion on Russia vs the rest of the EU. Bulgaria insignificant to the EU, most EU policies are for the majority of countries, and specifically the Central European countries
Mysterious-Put1459@reddit
I'm sorry that my defense mechanism is so obvious that it even offends you. Yours on the other hand seems to be quite low-key and appears natural where anything you can't address is unceremoniously ignored in your reply. Please if you so wish to display your elite knowledge of politics and international relations address my first paragraph.
And sure, you never explicitly said you were pro-Russia. But it's obvious you are. No point is denying it. Perhaps I really am a simpleton but still I am not a fool. Pushing for an outcome that actively benefits Russian interest is not neutrality. I don't know if the Eu has any propaganda programs. I also don't know if you know there is one or you are just hoping there is in order to counterbalance even a little bit the Russian cyberterrorism and disinformation campaigns that run rampant in the EU web space. Even for that reason alone, Russia cannot be a stable strategic partner to us. A partner "out of necessity" between 1991 and 2022, and since then they've shown they don't deserve even that. What partner sabotages you, your economy, safety, peace, stability, and population?
Give me an few example of purely Bulgarian interests that don't align with EU interests and instead align with Russia, please. You repeated several times that the Bulgarian public opinion is favourable towards Russia but what aspect exactly are we favourable for? What do we gain and what do we lose in exchange? I'd like to hear
Familiar-Custard-216@reddit
-DPS as well, and they are the biggest parties in Bulgaria for ethnic Bulgarians and minorities. DPS has now become Turkish influenced as well which it was not before, so there is that
-my source is Radev leading the polls and most likely winning. The same person you claim to be this pro Russian pariah will win
What source do you need for Bulgarians being pro Russian lol? R/Bulgaria at the moment are crying how Bulgarians are “peasants” and “slaves” and uneducated Russophiles because they voted for Radev.
-that doesn’t make him “pro-Russian”, but a populist. The Bulgarian public is pro Russia, he’s a populist and going to parrot these ideas. “Pro-Russian” to me is making Russia-favourable decisions regardless of your population or voter base’s opinion on them, like Orban
-isn’t that what you call anybody who is pro Russia or at least anti-eu? 🤣
I call them bots due to their dogmatic opinions on Russia and the EU, and how uniform the option is across the subreddit. Bulgarians in real life, even the youth, don’t care or don’t care that strongly or don’t even share the same opinions
-at expense of Bulgaria meaning they will defend any issues the EU is complicit in with Bulgaria. For example, how the EU and specifically Germany was sponsoring Boyko Borrisov and GERB, and tolerated his corruption scandals. Liberals claim how the EU is not complicit at all and it’s only the fault of the Bulgarian public for voting for them.
-and it’s not about the support but rather how dogmatic they are relative to the average Bulgarian.
SOHONEYSAME@reddit
same for Greece, lol.
for instance, a recent poll found that 75% of Greeks have a "unfavourable" opinion of Turkey (compared to 2.5% favourable, 20% neutral).
& yet, reading this sub, half of Greeks like Turkey, lol
also, Greeks on Reddit r (mostly) ant-Russia. (in reality, vast majority of Greeks r neutral on Russia).
Sashpeto@reddit
Yeah we are royally fucked ...
BIoom3D@reddit
its the 5th Mesiah in 20 years .... every few years a new party pops up wins the election and does nothing positive ... At this point its becoming a meme ...
This one is dangerous tho , hes just a russian lapdog ...
KisDre@reddit
Although he is president, how much power he has?
Our system is way to different, and i also see that u guys had much more elections than us.
nuclear-experiment@reddit
Not to worry, he’ll be out after the next elections that are scheduled in 3 months time.
Lanky_Commercial9731@reddit
10% of your GDP goes into elections
Andreuw5@reddit
Elections are investment in democracy.
reverber@reddit
20% goes into corruption. (Not sure if that number is still varied, but it feels like it sometimes).
TheFennecFx@reddit
But when we don’t have a government we save money and sometimes even get stuff done. Much better
TurdEye69@reddit
Yet while we don’t have a government our GDP improves even more than that…
Cherepa1914@reddit
At least we dont have lgbtq gays and Islamic killers , piece of shit
PoweredbyAndroid@reddit
Hey, don't lecture us on how to spent our GDP.....
Kaito__1412@reddit
Shit... Tone it down a bit with all that democracy.
Antique_Birthday6380@reddit
Since 2005, Albania’s only had two prime ministers, while Bulgaria has had two just this year. Whether that counts as democracy or not, i’m not sure.
MyPlantsDieSometimes@reddit
It's the ultimate democracy. A country by the people for the people. And as the people we continue to do what we've been doing for the past two centuries. Fucking ourselves over relentlessly.
angel_salvatore333@reddit
shut the fuck up at least you have euros, highways and low interest rate
MyPlantsDieSometimes@reddit
Ah yes, the "you might be missing some fingers but I'm missing my arm" argument. Let me complain about my fingers. I need them to ... Do stuff...( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
angel_salvatore333@reddit
bro in 5 years your economy will overtake ours just because of low interest rate and euro while we will still be struggling to finish our national highway in 2030s
MyPlantsDieSometimes@reddit
Don't underestimate our leadership's incompetence. It wouldn't be the first time we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory
angel_salvatore333@reddit
this isn't leadership it's just macroeconomics
low interest rate => massive economic growth even if you have toddlers in the goverment
Andreuw5@reddit
Where are you from?
Nal1999@reddit
Rome had 2 different leaders each year for a few hundred years.
You're fine.
Andreuw5@reddit
As a Bulgarian, I am ashamed of these results. This is a betrayal by the voters - they shot themselves in the foot. This is a betrayal from Radev as well. Because he used the mass protests energy to enter the politics.
NO, we won't be the 2nd Hungary. What is true is that we won't have a stable parliament in the near future (next 2-3 years). This is the beginning of his (Radev) end.
Gunnerpain98@reddit
If you think about it pragmatically, Radev is a good candidate for balancing reasons. While he is definitely in Putin’s pocket he is a populist before anything else and he won’t dare to take us out of the EU. Exactly because of that he will eat the electorate of the Vazrazhdane bastards, who are the real loonies, and finally send them into irrelevancy
reverber@reddit
Silver your tongue.
VoidYordle@reddit
Actually good point that I agree with. All I see on the liberal side rn is a bunch of dramatic exaggerations and crying to the Heavens. Pretending that if he wins tonight, then tomorrow there will be a 5pointed red star on top of the parliament again.
Max_ach@reddit
Can you tell us more about Vazrazhdanie? Are they the equivalent to AfD in Germany or?
This_Lion5856@reddit
Vazrazhdane are schizo putinists sponsored directly by the Kremlin.
RegionSignificant977@reddit
You can say that Vazrazhdanie are like AfD.
Max_ach@reddit
Yeah, almost every country has them nowadays i guess 😅 are there any parties that would get them in a coalition for a government?
RegionSignificant977@reddit
Highly doubt it. For them it's better to be in opposition and to bark from opposition. While spreading lies and disinformation. Lol. Also I expect 6, 7% for them and that wouldn't be enough.
Max_ach@reddit
On the last polls they reach up to 10% and sometimes the coalition is made with parties with even 5%, especially when there's not much choice. I hope nobody would want them in a coalition if they're as extremists
RegionSignificant977@reddit
https://clubz.bg/media/137/alfa-risarch\~1.l.webp
I can't see how they will form a coalition with someone from the list, even if you assume that they will be fine with the winner. Coalition with all the other parties would mean instant political suicide for them. The bad news is that Radev, expected winner isn't the best choice from your point of view either.
Max_ach@reddit
Damn, seems like they're going to have a hard time making a government again😬
RegionSignificant977@reddit
We say "сефте!" in cases like that. Means something like "I'm sick of it"
VLAON6@reddit
Vazrazhdane are just dogs that bark very loudly but they always vote the way our oligarchs wants them to. They are just the worst but Bulgarians are not interested in politics and barely watch what happens in the parlament so they can get away with it. When vaccination was mandatory in Covid times they were against the vaccines but all of vazrazhdane members got the shots in closed doors without saying anything. They were against the euro but they accepted donations in euros for years.
Broad-Cook-4462@reddit
You could say so. Their leader Kostadinov is obviously loyal to Kremlin. They want to take us out of EU and NATO and become a puppet state like Belarus. They also believe in conspiracy theories.
dpenchev@reddit
A sad day to be bulgarian. But i guess it can always get worse
I_hate_ElonMusk@reddit
This Radev guy knows well how to play for multiple parties.
TranslatorLivid685@reddit
If people vote for someone, how can they vote "wrong" in a true democracy?
Iconical(and non-existent) democracy is exactly about PEOPLE VOTE AND CHOOSE WHAT THEY WANT.
There just can't be "wrong" and "right" candidates.
Maybe it's because THERE'S NO ANY DEMOCRACY?
And not you, but Brussels is deciding wich one is "good" or "bad" for your country?
Zero6969nice@reddit
Because most people are stupid
No_Magazine_6806@reddit
"Risk" or "Opportunity"?
freddo_expresso@reddit
Bulgaria has elections every three months
Historical-Truth-222@reddit
That's bullshit and you know it. We have them every 6 months.
Final-Nebula-7049@reddit
5 months and 3 weeks
Miami-Novice@reddit
9 ½ Weeks /s
Voldypants_420@reddit
I'd say at least tree fiddy
Inevitable-Theory901@reddit
That’s because we are the most democratic country 🦁🦁🦁
cagriuluc@reddit
When god created earth, it gave whole democratic to Bulgaria. But Bulgaria democratic countrie so gived democratic to other countrie.
LiderNaMnenie@reddit
Not for long if Radev wins
ReasonResitant@reddit
Accidentally became the most democratic country in europe besides Switzerland lol
Dazzling-Session-181@reddit
Just because he is a realist, doesn't mean he is pro-Russian. I love it when some libtard doesn't hear the usual fascist greeting of "Heroyam slava" and gets an aneurism. Some people are delulu
Jujux@reddit
I am curious what the turnout is in these things? Haven't people grown tired of voting for the same thing over and over again?
jdreboj@reddit
What do you mean, my semi-annual voting hobby for the past 4 years has been a blast. /s
Honestly I can see why older generation is tired and doesn't care, but maybe it's a good thing that we still get to vote? I don't know anything anymore xD
vodka-bears@reddit
As a Russian I'd say all these so-called pro-Russian European politicians are actually pro-putin. Russians have no friends.
Large-Assignment9320@reddit
Naa, because Bulgaria will vote again in a few months (this is the eighth election in five years)
BurlakTankCommie@reddit
What the people decide is what the people get (aka the people themselves for whatever reason voted the party so its their decision)
Impossible_Nail_3967@reddit
Bulgarians can't make their minds out 🤣
Population is so divided there
Hidrogen_Cosic@reddit
Bulgaria was incorporated into eu to turn them away from russian influence. Historicaly they were a russian proxy state in the Balkans used as base of operation for the russian plan to connect macedonia, kosovo, and north albania with it, so they would have a port both in black and adriatic sea. If there is still someone thinking about nationan interests in russia, then they still want this.
Vesko85@reddit
A typical opinion of a Serb who still lives in some kind of imaginary world detached from reality.
Hidrogen_Cosic@reddit
Sure, that's why russia always backed bulgaria, and austria backed serbia, because both great powers had no interest whatsoever in those teritories.
rogomatic@reddit
All of the CEE states were incorporated with the idea that they'll be easier to handle that way. In reality, this backfired massively, watering down the Union and creating a bunch of natural trojan horses.
At some point the EU will just have to cut losses and rid itself of actors that don't want to be in the EU.
VoidYordle@reddit
No, their approaches are very different.
Also, a peculiar truth, that bulgarian liberals hate to admit it that this is the guy who gave power to the current liberal party that they themselves vote for. He literally brought them into politics and paved the way for them.
I don't know what his endgame is, but comparisons with Orban are just comical rantings of irrational sycophants.
Significant-Dog-8169@reddit
Bulgaria must take the best from EU and Russia, not to choose between them. And what exactly you mean by "turn into the next Hungary"? I want cheap energy. How this make me bad? I don't want to send money for Ukraine while our parents pensions are 200-300 euro, despite they was working whole life.
Vesko85@reddit
My parents take 700 euro pension. Yours didn't work probably or didn't pay taxes. This is their problem.
Mysterious-Put1459@reddit
They probably worked in the factory of their local village as per the socialist labour program. Then would come back home every day and brainwash their son to long for the returning of the glorious communism
No-Championship-4632@reddit
Well, 200-300 euro is below the minimum pension, they must have been working something important.
No-Championship-4632@reddit
The best you can take from Russia is internet brides.
afewnameslater@reddit
And with Russian men dying in the millions in the Ukraine mud, the prices never been as low as today.
OkoMushrooom@reddit
No Bulgaria must choose the EU otherwise you loose the thing that makes you interesting.
Giposaur@reddit
I hope not. Very rich ppl are behind him (even ppl he claim he's against) and he got huge PR campaign targeting pensioners and low educated ppl (which in BG is a lot). I hope ppl aren't dumb enough to vote for the new orban.
afewnameslater@reddit
Yes. We are absolute morons when it comes to politics. The Russian propaganda really played its cards well the last few years and managed to seay the 2- braincells part of our population for voting for Orban 2.0
madmendude@reddit
This was achieved thanks to the useful idiots that went protesting last year. Bulgaria will become the next Hungary and its only hope is GERB and Boyko Borissov.
I'm going to get downvoted by the people here on reddit who support PPDB, and they'll say that they're pro-European anti-corruption guys, but the reality is that Rumen Radev introduced PP into the political scene and they supported him for president. Then they went to the protests to topple the previous government, but they were just useful idiots and it's already too late - Bulgaria is in Schengen, and we have the Euro.
Antaeus2xr@reddit
He is everything but Pro-russian! He is 100% with EU and NATO. He just wants to take votes from the Pro-russian voters.
Garga_Cherna@reddit
We’ve had this same situation for over 25 years ever since Simeon II returned to Bulgaria and promised to “fix everything in 800 days.” He just stole as much as possible, privatized any real estate that he could and retired.
After that, his model became extremely popular.
Now every time a new face shows up and says “I’ll save you” the majority of people go and vote for them.
It might be that these people are heavily connected to the current corrupt government or they might be straight up criminals, as long as they say “I’ll save you, I’ll fix you” Bulgarians will vote for them.
Very small percentage of Bulgarians have any knowledge in history, economics or politics and are extremely gullible. And so we go on and on and on. Oh well…
Suitable-Decision-26@reddit
Not really, no. I mean as pro-Russian as this guy is or will be, Boyko The All Mighty built a gas pipeline through the whole coutnry(mind you, we cannot complete a proper highway through Northern Bulgaria and we have been trying since at least 2000) so that the Ruskies could go around Ukraine and they built in a record time. Worst case, we are back at 2020 level of Hungarian-ness
petio893@reddit
The highway was started in 1974... it's quite the laughing stock
Suitable-Decision-26@reddit
Let us say during fall of communism everything was shit and the project was not possible. Still not good.
Western-Society-4030@reddit
wtf
Gengar168@reddit
I like to think the election missfortune is karma for tteating your best neigbour like shit. 🥀
Good luck this time.
Mysterious-Put1459@reddit
We treated Romania like shit?
Odd-Organization-740@reddit
Not following the extreme one-sided rhetoric surrounding the Ukraine war does not make him pro-Russian. Just neutral in my opinion. Pro-Russian would be something like Revival who wants us to leave EU. Rumen Radev wants Bulgaria to stay a European partner, but he admits some basic facts like Crimea being Russian right now.
Mysterious-Put1459@reddit
This neutrality is the middle ground paradox. I say humans have 5 fingers on their hand, you say they have 9. Let's meet in the middle and say it is 7. It's not how it works. Russia is the aggressor. They began bombing the civilian population, public infrastructure, and public facilities. Ukraine defends itself. If you don't like Ukrainians just say it. But if you try to justify Russia's atrocities by claiming objectivism is one-sided rhetoric then you imply the opposite rhetoric like "Ukraine provoked Russia by asking to join NATO" or some other BS is a legitimate stance and you are simply a convenient contrarian. And here I'm talking about both geopolitical but also purely human side of things. Saying "Crimea is Russian" even only as de-facto controlled still affirms their imperialistic aspirations. What happens if they invade Latvia next and occupy half the country? Or Estonia? Or Georgia? Or even Bulgaria through the Black sea coast? Would there still be another view point or would those countries (including you own) have provoked Russia in some way?
This_Lion5856@reddit
Also he never said he will veto anything, imo if we compare him with any other European leaders at the moment I'd say he is closest to Meloni
NecroVecro@reddit
To me he definitely leans more towards Russia, I will past a comment of mine I made yesterday:
За Русия:
Изказване на Радев, качено на официалната му Фейсбук страница: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Am25wszkg/
Изказване на Радев против санкциите поставени срещу Русия след анексирането на Крим: https://bntnews.bg/bg/a/rumen-radev-za-poreden-pt-se-obyavi-za-otmyana-na-sanktsiite-sreshchu-rusiya
Изказване на Радев пред журналисти две седмици след началото на войната в Украйна: https://nova.bg/news/view/2022/03/08/360193/
За ЕС и НАТО не е чак толкова ясна позицията му, от една страна е казвал, че не е против тях и даже, че не е против еврото, от друга страна има изказвания като ето това:
Rare_Opportunity2419@reddit
No, persuing policies that help Russia; lifting sanctions on Russia and denying Ukraine arms to defend itself and supporting Trump's blackmail of Ukraine to force them to capitulate, is pro-Russian
DobrogeanuG1855@reddit
The USA is also threatening Europe and actively attacking us with sanctions. We should have a more hostile attitude towards Washington, since it’s more powerful than the Kremlin by far.
NetraamR@reddit
As a democrat, I believe the Bulgarian have every right in the world to elect who they want.
There will be a lot of "pro-european" "democrats" here who believe they don't
Substratas@reddit (OP)
?
NetraamR@reddit
Yes, someone who thinks democracy is the preferable system for society
Substratas@reddit (OP)
Oh ok, I thought this was another r/USdefaultism moment
NetraamR@reddit
LOL no worries
AffectionateWash7787@reddit
Hopefully
alkorisno@reddit
Is he proRussian or just antiNATO? Since many people started to get worried about NATO and EU geting them invloved in a war with Russia.
ComfortableParty2933@reddit
He is not pro-russian, he is just not anti-russian as most western liberals. He is fine with balanced politics, not cutting all connections with Russia because the west says so.
WildWorldliness2912@reddit
As a Bulgarian I say we are cooked if that's our future leader.
kostadin_gf@reddit
He is not as pro-russian as the media titles suggest, he said he is open for collaboration with pro-eu parties.
i_getitin@reddit
Unpopular opinion but I don’t want the see the entire Balkans completely pro West.
There needs to be some balance between the two hegemonies
pdonchev@reddit
Radev is a crappy populist, but he will be strongly pro-EU. Like Boyko.
rogomatic@reddit
Bulgaria can't "turn" itself into something it has already been for decades.
scales_and_fangs@reddit
Absolutely yes.
That comes from somebody who has always been suspicious towards this politician.
fr1ri@reddit
Bulgaria really saying "Hah, you thought it was over huh?"
imipet99@reddit
I mean Bulgaria was never in a better position than Hungary, so...
kaiser_vfe@reddit
I mean Bulgaria is in better position than Hungary right now, check the purchasing power of the average Bulgarian and average Hungarian in Numbeo, you will be surprised to see how much better Bulgaria is than some EU countries, such as Greece, Hungary or Latvia.
rrzibot@reddit
For a brief moment In time we were. We had it going, even surpassing Hungary for buying power. We were no longer the poorest country in the EU. Hungary got their shit together. Now the place for a Russian puppy is free.
Organic_Contract_172@reddit
No
marvelousTackle@reddit
Why is that risk and for whom?
Sea_Assistance719@reddit
as a Hungarian I'd like to see them try, big shoes to fill...
Effective_Push3271@reddit
I hope so. Bulgarian people respect Orban and his independent foreign policy
halodon@reddit
You can have him, he'll be unemployed in 2 weeks anyway.
Substratas@reddit (OP)
https://i.redd.it/nqbyc4bku3wg1.gif
RegionSignificant977@reddit
Yeah...
driftstyle28@reddit
Considering the EU would call any form of Vucic opposition pro-Russian here too I would like to hear a Bulgarian's point of view, is he really pro-Russian or?
Darkeyed19@reddit
Yeah....yeah. His supporters will say that he's neutral when it comes to Ukraine and Russia, but a neutral stance of not helping either side is just pro-russian with extra steps.
0091dit@reddit
I don't think so. They won't have enough votes to be in power, and likely won't be able to form a stable coalition. We are already sort of used to voting twice a year by now.
LibertyChecked28@reddit
Oh, I was almost about to forget about voting, thanks for the reminder.
I will make sure to drop one for Radev.
egytaldodolle@reddit
Risk??????
Inevitable_Motor_685@reddit
Kremlin ception
showtime481216@reddit
Orban was actually playing both sides with Trump and Putin so Orban is just an ass, and this is propaganda against Radev he isn't pro Russia, he is just a actually smart person who has the brain not to antagonize someone with enough rockets to blow up Bulgaria sky high, being friendly to a super power doesn't mean that you are pro Russia, Iran was friendly with China and Russia, and they just left them to fend for themselves after Trumped attacked them
arbicus123@reddit
Thats assuming that the upcoming government will make it to next year
dobrits@reddit
To all macedonians with bulgarian passports if you can please go vote 🙏. This guy is a menace to democracy, another Vucic
Acework23@reddit
Another retard
Acework23@reddit
He is the only centrist and pro Bulgarian one. Every other fucker has roots to suck from the country and is mafia
WeeklyDelivery2000@reddit
No, there is risk to turn into next Romania, as there was a serious campaign on TikTok.
coleto22@reddit
Ah, nothing says "democracy" like Romania's "you were going to elect the wrong guy, so we'll remove him and you can try again".
KitchenDuck1009@reddit
risk implies something bad, so no
PlamenIB@reddit
No. There is no possibility. And those elections have nothing to do with the Balkans. At least wait for the results. Nobody in Greece, Romania Bosnia or any other country care about that.
heatseaking_rock@reddit
I agree
seekTheTruth247@reddit
Yet another parliament that will fail to produce a stable government.
heatseaking_rock@reddit
Bulgaria should become a monarchy at this point.
Dear-Ad1582@reddit
Still there will be no government... King will just replace the president and have no presidential election.
When these cock suckers will learn that there will never be a majority out of election and they need to sit down and calmly negociate.
I swear to god they look more like a gipsy scandal...
Radusili@reddit
LMAO what is this
Everyone sit down! PlamenIB is here to decide what you should care for.
Substratas@reddit (OP)
https://i.redd.it/dnt5nnrll3wg1.gif
Scared_Hat3018@reddit
Oh no, democracy! We don't need this in EU!
Mac62961@reddit
Duh
abandonedtulpa@reddit
This shit is getting tiresome