How do Bulgarians feel about the election results?
Posted by FantasticQuartet@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 336 comments
Posted by FantasticQuartet@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 336 comments
Beautiful-Dish-6275@reddit
Dont you guys like, hate the Russians?
Fragrant-Party3192@reddit
They've never really did anything bad to us. Any hate is based on what they do to other people, which is quite distant from day to day life.
Martoto_94@reddit
Most younger folks and urban professionals do. But by and large the population is probably the most pro-Russian in the EU. Must be Stockholm syndrome or something.
TiredOperator420@reddit
You don't have to be pro russian to vote for pro russian option. See my flair, you just need to be an idiot which in case of my country is unfortunately normal for people to. vote against their best interests.
Fairly enough, in our case pro russian options are less open about it if at all.
Big-Vegetable4550@reddit
Not us! Americans always vote in their country's best interests...
Looks down, checks notes...
Uh, wait, ummm... I need a moment...
TiredOperator420@reddit
I met people from your country and I explain to them "Trump 2028 = Dictatorship, I seen this in Europe" and they bite me with "no, you don't understand America!"
Or "why we pay for wars outside" and I am like 'bruh, first of all you start them and second of all, you promised other countries stuff for trade and dependency on dollar".
Not to mention dude in question has a family history of "running away from Latin America and getting citizenship" and now he is all in favor of messing up other migrants. Pulling the ladder on people :)
Man, general public in US is not very sharp, is it?
Big-Vegetable4550@reddit
Well, think of your average American (or Croatian, or Bosnian, or Serb, or Greek) and now realize you have at least a 50% chance to run into someone dumber than him… It’s easy to find idiots everywhere - but maybe, just maybe, the lack of exposure to other cultures/peoples/ways of life may put Americans at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to impressing with their insight…
During the wars during the breakup of former Yugoslavia, so many Americans said to me “Well, after all, the Balkans have always had conflicts…” and then I asked them “…and who has been involved in way more conflicts that ever happened in the Balkans, and most of them not even on their own borders?” Silence…
TiredOperator420@reddit
Perspective changes things. I visited Philippines for example, slavic poverty is nit the same than what I seen there…
Big-Vegetable4550@reddit
But boy are their dogs, even the wild ones, well behaved (probably helps when dog is on the menu, LOL). Agressive and barking dogs were removed from the gene pool a long time ago!
Still, Philippinos outside the big cities seem to live decent lives. But they are hard-working and ambitious people - you don't hear many complaints about how hard they work when they come to Croatia.
TiredOperator420@reddit
It’s impossible to complain about workers from East and Southeast Asia.
Their work ethics is on next level if needed. They are the slavs of 21st century.
Big-Vegetable4550@reddit
You might appreciate this story:
When I was in the states, working on a project for my house, I went to a big-box hardware store to buy some wallboard (Knauf in Europe), a store employee helped me load it in my car. He told me that he used to run a construction company in California, but he couldn't stay in business because his prices were always undercut by (undocumented) Mexicans. So he moved back to Chicago to work in the store. One day, working at the counter, two Mexican contractors came in and were complaining in Spanish (which he understood) "How in the hell are we supposed to stay in business when we're always being undercut by the damned (undocumented) Poles!"
Exploitation of undocumented immigrants is big business in America. But the majority of the profits go to the owner, of course.
TiredOperator420@reddit
Trump himself hired illegal poles in nyc for azbestos removal.
The story itself made me smirk bro :D
Adept-One-4632@reddit
This is sadly the same case in my country, as shown in our last election
Dimo145@reddit
wrong. It's cooked on all fronts. Just that the younger people prefer PP over Gerb, when it's about an EU party.
Sardoodledome@reddit
this is all speculation ... There is no way to know who votes for who ... I can pay Alpha Research to make me top on any chart!
Martoto_94@reddit
Yeah, saw this as well. Perhaps I should have specified “urban younger folks”. But even then, I’m not so sure anymore…
Vadelmayer44@reddit
The sock won every district in Sofia, it's so cooked
SOHONEYSAME@reddit
1878, Plevna, etc.
(tho Bulgaria still paid tribute, until 1908).
Slow-Hawk4652@reddit
ot is not OR its THE thing...
Citaku357@reddit
No lol, at one point during communism they wanted to join the Soviets
ViscountBuggus@reddit
If Russia invaded tomorrow a substantial amount of the population would help them
ExoticAd7546@reddit
Nah even younger people, some intelligent are brainwashed hard by anti Ukraine propaganda.
itisnotstupid@reddit
Bulgaria is the most russia loving EU country after Belarus
kuhinjski@reddit
Damn they beating us huh
Kaer__Morhen@reddit
What a time to be alive, what's next they'll outsource their construction work and sell their land to China?
itisnotstupid@reddit
Maybe you are the only true contenders but naah, I think that we still have it.
RandomRavenboi@reddit
Belarus is in the EU? Since when?
itisnotstupid@reddit
sorry, I meant european, not EU.
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
That’s what 45 years of hard on communism brainwashing does to a population
HuckleberryUpbeat518@reddit
Russia is the scarecrow some parties use to gather support. Most people don't give a fuck about Russia and the only thing they care is that energy prices went up since we decided to cut the use of Russian gas. I am sure many of the biggest haters of Russia can't even point it on the map.
Humble_Fan_4631@reddit
It was inevitable now we'll watch him ruin everything he can for four years
Tamtakos-1@reddit
Roma ethnicity representative?
ElLoboTurco@reddit
how often did bulgarians have elections now? will this admin survive long enough to make a difference?
ComfortableParty2933@reddit
Yes. Such a landslide victory has not been observed in Bulgaria since 1997.
WhisperingHammer@reddit
Is it a victory in reality or a fake one?
dwartbg9@reddit
What do you mean?
WhisperingHammer@reddit
I mean there are the election wins of the classic ”make the result up” variety, and then there are others.
dwartbg9@reddit
No. It's absolutely real, Even if some party fakes votes, we're talking about gaining a few % more, not getting almost 50%, which is even a record number which no party has had since ages.
To fake such a large number, then everyone would know about the scheme happening, and all of us would've gotten paid to go and vote for him, or something hahah You can't hide such things that easily, Bulgaria ain't Africa. Especially this year, there was a lot of control over that and many people got arrested for selling or trying to fake votes (for example by using expired ID cards)
WhisperingHammer@reddit
You don’t fake a vote by paying people to vote, you fake the result.
ZinbaluPrime@reddit
Like it matters. GERB had landslides before and still got taken down. I bet we get another election in a year.
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
GERB never had the amount of majority that PB is getting, this is the biggest parliamentary win since 1997, people really underestimate that Radev is actually very popular within the population
v-s-g@reddit
Which tells everything you need to know about the population. Trusting a shady figure with non-concrete rhetoric about anything outstanding. Only using vague phrases that he’ll fight corruption and the oligarchs. Not willing to show up for a debate on any television, but only a single youtube “interview”. And no response where he got the money for a huge campaign other than “donations”.
I hope I’m wrong but I think this guy is way more dangerous for our long term positioning on the world map than people give him credit for. I am expecting a bloated budget with half-ass “crisis measures” for the poor and old. Maybe even government subsidised fuel if the price of it keeps going up.
BUT - to keep some positivity, actions speak louder than words. He will have a majority in the parliament so there’s no hiding now and he can do some long awaited reforms that previous parliaments were saying can’t be done without a majority. So let’s see what he does in the next few months.
GoffRockerboss@reddit
Realistically, how "huge" was this campaign? I barely saw any political campaigning going on this election.
v-s-g@reddit
Huge billboards all over the country, a lot of tv and radio commercials, big and expensive office spaces in every regional town.
ComfortableParty2933@reddit
That 'shady' figure is the Bulgarian President of two consecutive terms.
v-s-g@reddit
I am aware, but thank for the heads up 🙂 Borisov was also a prime minister for many years. Which doesn’t mean he’s also not shady.
canastataa@reddit
Who should we trust tell us.
Kircho who was in car crash, one died and nothing ever happened. Vasilev who appears drugged on Tv (big iris even on projectors, ssri prob). Their links to the pedo kill scandal.
Or maybe we should trust Borisov and his oligarch Peevski.
GoldenLiar2@reddit
Lmao the first paragraph sounds eerily similar to that asshole we had that had us cancel the elections, Calin Georgescu.
They just do the same shit over and over again
ComfortableParty2933@reddit
That's exactly what i said above bro.
ComfortableParty2933@reddit
Bruh Gerb has ruled for over a decade.
Happy-Hour88@reddit
Unpopular opinion but I miss the era of new elections each year and even more than ones per year. Keeps politicians in their tracks because they're uncertain how long they will stay in power.
YourFath3r@reddit
Hey, bozo. Who do you think is paying for those elections? Probably not a 14 year old redditor like you, that's for sure.
Pinkninja11@reddit
He got a majority which is unprecedented since 2013. As long as he doesn't do any major f*ck ups, He'll likely go through a full mandate, which would also be the first since 2013.
Tbh, if it wasn't for Western Media labeling him "The next Orban" nobody would be calling him that. He's much more tame.
As for the elections outcome, this was the best realistic scenario. He has a chance to do many positive things with little effort because the bar is on the floor at the moment.
Worst case, we're going to get more of the rest.
gai_tan@reddit
He’s been tame because he wasn’t in parliament. He was the president with 0 actual power. Now he has a majority in the new parliament, so watch as his sponsors start using that majority to push the agenda they’ve wanted all along. Radev is not Orban now, but Orban also gradually radicalised, otherwise why the hell would Hungarians vote him in?
It’s not a good sign this. Either we get more of the same but stable for four years, or a gradual trajectory towards Orban-style governing.
Pinkninja11@reddit
Either way we'll see. It's very unlikely that we'll get a polarizing outcome. Odds are some things will improve, others might worsen or simply stagnate. Either way, you can't expect something to change if you are not willing to risk suffering the consequences of a change.
In politics perception and pretty words doesn't really matter and rarely align with the actions of the speaker. Neither me or you know how this will play out, so we can only wait and see.
cordia543@reddit
The instability was caused with the intent of getting this rat elected. The russians also managed to hand pick the patriarch of the church and will now get to pic the supreme court and state prosecutor.
usedtobeHellsdoom@reddit
Unless he screws up so badly that people rise against him, there is nothing stopping him from ruling all 4 years. You never know, but I think we will have a stable government this time.
alteransg1@reddit
8 elections since 2021. However no one had a Parlamentary voting majority of 121, so all the cabinets were a compromise between enemies. Eventually one of them quit leading to the next snap elections.
This is different. PB 98,33% of votes counted, PB takes 44,6%, meaning they almost certainly have single parliamentary majority. There is no smaller partner to blow up the cabinet.
Besrax@reddit
He has an absolute majority, so his government will very likely go for the entire 4 years.
WeeklyDelivery2000@reddit
Rock_Zeppelin@reddit
If he wants anything done he'll need to form a coalition government with the pro-EU liberals, which means tempering any Putinophilia he has. Unless the liberals capitulate with him, which is not out of the question. So best case scenario we have a stable ambivalent government, worst case scenario is we're doing elections again in October.
genadi_brightside@reddit
Bulgarian here, and I don't feel great.
In the last 25+ years we have always had to choose the lesser evil. We usually choose wrongly.
Those are our 8th (I think) elections in 5 years.
People are fucking tired of political bullshit.
The guy is a populist hasn't made any tangible promises so basically all his political ideas are unknown at this point.
He promised to 'fight corruption and such' but we have no idea who financed him and gave him the infrastructure to build a party and campaign in just 2 months.
He has made slightly pro-russian claims like Crimea is Russian by fact, we should not help Ukraine because it will postpone its agony. We should stay neutral. He was kind of against the euro adoption not by principle but insisting on referendum and campaigning against it.
The election 'competition' was not great either - mostly corrupt OGs (Gerb, DPS-NN) and weak Democratic Party (PPDB) whose message was far from resonating with the common people. Alongside with a couple of openly pro-russian parties that got marginal votes.
So yea, we will see how much shit this guy will pour.
So don't hate us too much if we turn into next Hungary.
Perfect-Hearing9080@reddit
8 election in 5 years wtf ?
FriendshipRemote130@reddit
so basically he isnt gonna do shit and just give money to his friends
Known-Ad6919@reddit
So you're saying he's a politician.
genadi_brightside@reddit
Welcome to politics bro.
More obvious the more to the east you go.
But present everywhere.
FriendshipRemote130@reddit
absolutely. its like that in Italy too but add the mafia for extra corruption
PVanchurov@reddit
Sigh, he's financed by Russia they also engineered the whole thing and the targeted campaign via social media and useful idiots, it was far too professional and effective. Just as a reminder on who does what in Bulgaria: GERB launder and move around Russian mafia money, DPS used to do the same before they got taken over, BSP did the same. These parties are corrupt as fuck, in addition they built a gas pipeline that made the Ukraine invasion less costly from an economic perspective. Almost forgot, Kostya's party, they are like temu russophiles, for a low low price they will do everything.
PP are a populist left party, DB are right leaning and DSB are conservative right, they have little to no touching points in terms of values and initally they did bring on board incompetent or borderline brain dead people i.e. Lorer. That cost them a lot, they had no idea how to play the game. PP also have powerful business interests behind them, don't forget that. I still supported the coalition though, in spite of PP.
I think that nothing is going to change, we will still be selling weapons to Ukraine, the EU is moving away from unanimity to supermajority or a simple majority, we've already adopted the euro and paid the initial price gouging shock, shengen is in place. This also will pass. Keep calm and carry on.
genadi_brightside@reddit
You pretty much encapsulated what my opinion is. I despise PPDB thanks exactly to people like Lorer, and their cringy messaging.
But I still vote for them because they seem to be the lesser evil.
Radusili@reddit
Won back a friend and lost a brother
Wizard_AI@reddit
Hungary has never been our friend, but we are happy that they choose EU over Russia.
Lazy-Relationship-34@reddit
Hungary is our friend nowadays. We share a people (or two, if you take into consideration the historical communities of Romanians in Debrecen, and Gyula) and we are part of the same European family. Stop with this Hungarophobe madness. We wish Hungarians the Bulgarians nothing but the best.
Mothanul@reddit
Hungarian hate coming from Romanians is like the most NPC thing ever especially when it's coming from Romanians who don't live in Transylvania and have never met a Hungarian (or a Szekely) in their lives. It's something they learn from their parents or their football club supporters and just stick with it well into adulthood while being completely ignorant of reality. And no, history is not a valid reason to hate Hungarians because we're way past what happened over 100 years ago.
Lazy-Relationship-34@reddit
As is mentioning Palestine under an inoffensive meme in Hebrew under a Linux forum. Antisemitism coming from Romanians is like the most NPC thing ever.
Mothanul@reddit
I'm sorry but equating anti-zionism to antisemitism takes the cake as the most NPC thing ever. Also congrats for scrolling down like 10 pages trying to find dirt on me.
Lazy-Relationship-34@reddit
No, this post mentions nothing of Zionism. It is a mere meme in Hebrew. You can sod right off. The Nazis would have scored big time had the word 'Zionism' been popular back in the 1940s. They weren't murdering Jews, but Hebrew speaking Zionists posting under Linux subs.
Mothanul@reddit
The 71k Palestinians killed by IDF also had nothing to do with Hamas or any other terrorist organization yet here we are. If I were Israeli I would just denounce my citizenship, language, country flag and everything else to do with Israel until the big yahu and his regime resign and spend the rest of their days in solitary confinement.
Adept-One-4632@reddit
Calling Hungary a friend is odd, but i get the message.
I suppose we must cancel our holiday trip to Greece
Citaku357@reddit
Why?
Perfect-Hearing9080@reddit
Well , we didn't had the greatest interactions with the romanians
Adept-One-4632@reddit
You know that we and Hungary did not have the smoothest relationship
Rebelbot1@reddit
🥹
Mada77z@reddit
Did you just call Hungary our friend?
FlamosSnow@reddit
The "Eu Alliance eurogays" like myself are not very happy about it. The majority hopes that at last "something better will come" and are "hopeful". Rumors start spreading who was the main financial backing behind him as this was one hell of an expensive campaign that could either be funded by the russians, the mobsters from Varna and/or both.
_Caligulean_@reddit
Those red, white and green flag countries keep switching places
Equivalent_Bag_3634@reddit
Mexico and Italy are next?
_st4rlight_@reddit
No majority can be entirely pro Russia in Italy at the moment. At the same time, no majority can be entirely pro Ukraine either.
We really mastered the art of side switching
Advanced-Ad-1371@reddit
Yes, we also have lots of italians volunteering for russia, like a lot
TelephoneNearby6059@reddit
A lot more, if you count double citizenships and country of origin too, are fighting for Ukraine. Ofc, there are instances of Italian citizens living in the russia who volunteered or voluntold, but, to this day, the biggest known Italian contribution to the kremlin is lots of journos and Lord-Haw-Haw-type guys like those who are part of the “Associazione Donbass-Italia”.
Equivalent_Bag_3634@reddit
That’s unbelievable! What motivation do they have to choose that side?
Lertus@reddit
For first time in my life ( 37 ) Im ashamed that im Bulgarian. this is how i feel. For first time i think about leaving Bulgaria.
I dont care if other Bulgarians in the sub will hate me, or curse at me.. This is the bottom of the toilet ... maybe even under the bottom.. not sure we can go worse...
Vesko85@reddit
So, do you think Borissov and Peevski are better? If yes, I wish you a pleasant life, wherever you choose to go.
Lertus@reddit
no, neither of all politicians are better. Sad part is that the last 15 years we vote for personalities, not for politics...
Noone that was in the last 10 governments are better, they all do Nothing for our country and for the people. All they do is steal, steal ,steal steal...
they all : fight the corruptions - then became part of it.
He will do all the things, He provided, he brought, He , He , he ... Boko is the begining of the destruction of our country. He was useful only the first 2 years in his political life... Peevski .. i wont even start there.. he should have died in Dubai...
all of them deserve death penalty for harming the country and the people..
HumanMan00@reddit
Get rid of one Orban, another one appears.
Inevitable_Motor_685@reddit
There are many politicians like these in Europe, so it's kinda expected tbh. Even in Germany and France, there are parties like AfD or figures like Le Pen
Hot-Ad4732@reddit
I think it's not as much to do with policies or leanings being swayed left or right, but rather people everywhere being reactionary to whoever is in power right now and vote against them. But it does help these extreme anti establishment parties become popular
HumanMan00@reddit
How many run their respective states and share a sea with Russia?
visku77@reddit
I know it's different but Germany shares a sea with Russia, the Baltic sea. Just commenting on the geography.
HumanMan00@reddit
Im not a geopolitics expert but compared to Hungary its basically as if Bulgaria and Russia share a border.
visku77@reddit
Yeah I don't disagree with you. I know how it is in Finland, we share a long border with Russia. I just wanted to mention that maybe a different way phrasing the previous point would have been better.
HumanMan00@reddit
Perekele thats fair.
Inevitable_Motor_685@reddit
They don't, for now. And they don't share a sea with Russia, but they are major states within EU, so it is a question what would happen if they were to gain more power within their respective states in the future.
terra_filius@reddit
AfD wont ever gain any power
MichiganRedWing@reddit
Literally the fastest growing party in Germany...
KiwiSchinken@reddit
Nothing but alarmism
HumanMan00@reddit
Im pretty sure West EU states are pretty safe when it comes to that.
Forsaken-Hotel7535@reddit
But they are no winning any fucking landslides!
aasfourasfar@reddit
Well if France had a single round voting system or some proportional with a bonus for the winners, they would have
Natopor@reddit
Depends. Orban had the balls to be the bad guy. Radev may not be so brave
No-Championship-4632@reddit
Radev doesn't have both balls and brains.
Equivalent_Bag_3634@reddit
Orban was only balls.
NiftyLogic@reddit
Orban is a ball.
ValtenBG@reddit
Orb
Equivalent_Bag_3634@reddit
Indeed he may have lost one after the elections.
Repulsive_Work_226@reddit
given geography do not think EU will care like they did for Hungary
roctac@reddit
If anything EU cares more. Bulgaria is way more strategic geographic local than Hungary.
SOHONEYSAME@reddit
Hungary location is shit,
not "strategic" at all.
Bulgaria has one of most "strategic" locations for Balkan countries, second to Greece.
Hopeful_Addition7834@reddit
Hungary connects 3 non-NATO countries.
If there would be a land war and Hungary would be taken out, NATO would fall apart.
SOHONEYSAME@reddit
first,
geo-politics isn't just "war scenarios"
second,
this is irrelevant.
the 3 "non-Nato" countries pose 0 threat to Nato, and no, Nato wouldn't "fall apart" if Hungary collapses, (tho it would never reach that point, realistically).
...
Hopeful_Addition7834@reddit
If Ukraine falls, Russia should have to conquer Hungary, or convince the locals to exist NATO.
If that happens, the only place where NATO can move its land forces between North and South is France(!). (From Finland to Turkey for example)
And for this this happen, so that NATO North and South falls apart, all Russia has to do is convince Hungarian rural people to exit NATO.
Effective_Push3271@reddit
What’s strategic about Greece? Bulgaria is the most important on Balkans. Through our territory pass almost all European corridors.
SOHONEYSAME@reddit
bruh.
Greece has,
this means Greece has unrestricted access to global shipping lanes. (which is y England, back when it wanted to "dominate the seas" allied w/ Greece, lol, & in fact Churchill explicitly "gave away" Bulgaria & others, to Soviets in exchange for Greece).
France is playing a similar role, these days. (which is why, again, Greece is one of their "closest" allies, even outside the EU/Nato framework).
essentially, Bulgaria is "blocked" by Greece but, also, Turkey (the straits).
Greece isn't. (Alexandropolis, for instance, allows Greece to completely "bypass" the straits).
Bulgaria's location is important, on the basis of.
the Black Sea (shared w/ Romania).
"entry point" of the EU.
it's more important compared to other Balkan countries, but it's nowhere near Greece, lol.
roctac@reddit
Exactly what I said. Thanks
Forsaken-Hotel7535@reddit
It fucking depends on how this fucking idiot behaves. Fucking Bulgaria!
NoSync22@reddit
We didn’t care about Hungary because of geography, we cared because of our idiotic voting system allowing vetoes.
HumanMan00@reddit
You sure? Black sea bros are nothing to laugh about - you should know.
Acework23@reddit
You are are wrong
HumanMan00@reddit
Arguments or you are a poopy head
Outrageous-Move-2849@reddit
Orban is right wing these guys are left wing conservative.
HumanMan00@reddit
Idk dude, politics for me is just showboating. They all use any trick in the book if it means they keep their seat.
I dont think it really matters.
WorkerPlayful4192@reddit
What about Vuçiç?
-ungodlyhour-@reddit
If you remember they had to have a revolution to oust Slobo.
Pičić is similar, he will have to be dragged away or in a coffin. There is not other way he is leaving his position.
Professional-Fee-488@reddit
I vote for the coffin🫡
HumanMan00@reddit
We r trying our best.
Effective_Push3271@reddit
Stop with the hate! He said Bulgaria won’t block anything. We won’t simply take part in the aid. That’s it, end of story.
Serious-Positive-292@reddit
Good
Forsaken-Hotel7535@reddit
Fucking asshole!
Affectionate-Strain0@reddit
There should be balance
According-Fun-4746@reddit
have fun with Hungary being full of indians
HumanMan00@reddit
Me? Why should i jave fun with that?
Stverghame@reddit
He might have assumed you have weird sex tourism preferences /s
Interesting_Ice_4925@reddit
Have fun actually reading Magyar’s program lmao
According-Fun-4746@reddit
his program is be fully anti ru fully support eu
overall have fun becoming poor
NoSync22@reddit
Way ahead of you buddy, making Hungary poor by swallowing money is exactly what Orban has been doing for the past few years.
According-Fun-4746@reddit
hormussy is closed
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
People dont actually read anything these days, its just premature outrage for whatever the headline of the last article they saw tells them
MagmaSlte@reddit
IMO he is not the bulgatian Orban as some people make him out to be (also the bulgarian Orban is just Boyko Borisov but he is nominally pro-EU so people dont count him i guess), and only time will tell if he really is just a russian puppet.
Differences from Orban: 1. While he is a bulgarian politician and of course he is corrupt, its not like hes a newcomer to politics and until now his track record of corruption has been much better than that of Orban 2. From his current rhetoric he is not completely "oh those evil beaurucrats in Brussels are taking over our country" and the refusal to really mention anything against Russia could be mainly an electoral tactic to get more votes from the pro-russian bulgarians. 3. He has claimed that he will not utilise the EU veto power to block different things, how true that is? Only time will tell.
ViscountBuggus@reddit
Another election in September guys
Vesko85@reddit
What elections in the autumn, when he has a full—and large—majority?
No-Championship-4632@reddit
The first more significant push in any direction, and I expect some of his MPs to break apart. It's far too diverse crowd of unexperienced people.
Capital-Driver7843@reddit
His “party” is a mix of opportunists, ex-military, scammers and converts from other party. He doesn’t have a party doctrine… we don’t if he is left, right or centric. In matter of months this thingy he has will start splitting on smaller internal fractions. However, I think their rhetoric toward Russia is more to consolidate the vote of … those things that support Russia. I highly doubt he will take any concrete steps in direction east… in case he does, it is time to get German passport.
Difficult-Group4674@reddit
Rumen Radev ❎ Todor Zhivkov 2.0✅
No-Championship-4632@reddit
3.0
Vesko85@reddit
Haha, complete nonsense.
BenefitExisting4473@reddit
No elections will ever matter in all the countries its an elousion that people some how have a say they don't. All over history it's money and banks that control the parties and make politics . Same in Ukraine same in Iran. No leader and army ever stood a chance plus the propaganda. The American banks were paying Hitler up to the last day of war. The elites send Lenin to Russia to overthrow Nicholas because he wanted peace the elite wants chaos you remember that every time you see a conflict. Remember when Putin wanted to join nato ? Why not do ti well because Russia would have been a stable force in the region and the elites don't want that 😁 there are many examples
colonel_vitel@reddit
Welcome back Călin Georgescu ahh moment
Mako2401@reddit
This guy will hold onto power like Orban . Mark my words.
MyPlantsDieSometimes@reddit
I don't think he has there, date I say it, charisma or audacity of a perpetual leader of dictator. Seems to need like a grifter who's good at holding on to the handlebars when the roller coaster does it's inevitable loops. But I am not well informed
Besrax@reddit
It's too early to tell, but the possibility is definitely there.
Next-Lobster4306@reddit
He won a landslide? Bro deserves better
Miserable-Ground-379@reddit
Good luck Bulgaria
MyPlantsDieSometimes@reddit
We need it, as always
According-Fun-4746@reddit
why
Besrax@reddit
He got very lucky to say the least. We haven't had a single-party majority since 1997. I'm expecting things to go south unfortunately.
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
I think as usual, nother ever happens. They will replace Boyko’s oligarchs with his oligarchs and things will just continue as they were
Besrax@reddit
Yes, but he will also change the geopolitical position of the country, and he might even borrow some stuff from the authoritarian playbook. He is dangerous.
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
What are you basing this on exactly? He has said a 1000 times that his whole political campaign is based on further EU and NATO intergration on all levels
dontbend@reddit
So what makes him Russia-aligned then?
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
He just has his own opinions on things and nowadays politics and especially EU politics dont want politicians to have their own stance on things, they just want them all to blindly follow whatever the EU commission tells them.
For me this is toxic first for the individual countries and then for the EU as a whole. Radev for example is pro-nuclear, slightly against the green new deal and carbon emmission atleast until we have good enough renewable technology to completely phase out fossil fuels and so on.
He is also pro establishing dialogue and diplomacy with Russia and resolving the war through diplomacy rather than an ever increasing millitary expansion on both sides.
And when it comes to the EU having such stances makes you somehow a Russian puppet and the new Oban.
YannTheOtter@reddit
Asking to resolve the war diplomatically always leads to asking Ukraine to cede land and sign a ceasefire that russia will just break anyway.
There is no diplomacy with Moskow because they want all their demands met without negotiating because they have said multiple times that they will not back down from their demands.
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
They have said that to who though? I find it super weird that almost 5 years after we have this war, we are yet to see a direct meeting between Putin and a European leader
lakiseuznemirio@reddit
In almost every negotiations between the US, Russia and/or Ukraine, the latter was almost always asked make compromises while Russia should profit. There is no point in any diplomacy and negotiations with Russians as long as they aren’t ready to make some sacrifices themselves.
Furthermore, it wouldn’t be the first time that the Russians broke any agreements. The invasion of Ukraine in 2022 is the best example for it. From the perspective of the EU, it makes only sense to support Ukraine military and financially until Russia is defeated or collapses economically.
SansBouillie@reddit
when I'm in a "copy-paste talking points from Reddit" competition and my opponent is this guy 😨😨
PleaseBePatient99@reddit
Russia is evil, enemy scum. Only traitor bitches talk about them positively. This is the only opinion that every EU country needs to have.
terra_filius@reddit
from his party's last rally
BarskiPatzow@reddit
Whoever is not liked must be Russia-aligned.
PerpendicularTomato@reddit
He said that? Oh my where can I vote for him instantly.....
Bulgarians have the worst character reading skills bruh
ThunderEagle222@reddit
Like how Yanukovich promised to balance western and Russian relationship, and when in power did an 180 and sucked Putin so hard he lost all his pubic hair.
dwartbg9@reddit
You can't make a comparison with Ukraine which wasn't properly aligned with anyone. Bulgaria is part of the EU and NATO, it's kind of different.
Besrax@reddit
He wants cooperation with Russia and stopping the help to Ukraine. I think this alone is a pretty good indicator for his foreign policy. But when you see his other messages, which can be summed up by populism and "patriotism", you can deduce that he will be looking up to the authoritarian east.
He has said many things for the sake of gathering maximum votes. He has also contradicted himself before. So he may or may not do what he said. He might even do the complete opposite. Keep in mind that the erosion of democracy happens gradually (the boiling frog theory). Some right-wing populist gets elected by promising easy solutions, and then he slowly starts taking more and more power, repressing the opposition, limiting political freedoms, meddling with the media and elections, etc. He usually has some successes in the beginning, but then things turn sour and it's very hard or even impossible to elect someone else. This is the general blueprint we see from history.
Also, Russia wouldn't necessarily want us to leave the EU and NATO. It may be more useful to them for us to sabotage things from the inside and be their spy.
tabulasomnia@reddit
wasn't orban like that in the beginning?
cordia543@reddit
He has also lied every time he spoke, so it there is that
amberith@reddit
since when we trust to what politics say before elections? =D
SansBouillie@reddit
News told him that Radev is a Russian agent 😂
Game0nBG@reddit
They are not his. He is a puppet.
roctac@reddit
Unfortunately this is probably the most likely scenario.
NoSync22@reddit
So is he actually pro-Russia (as the majority seems to think) or is he not (as many say here)? If he actually had pictures showing handshakes with Putin at his rallies, I can’t see how it can be anything but the former, tbh.
Odd-Organization-740@reddit
We have hope. Bulgaria is very divided on Russia, but we are united on fighting the corrupt status-quo by GERB and DPS. Radev managed to bridge that Russian divide by adopting fairly moderate stance on the Ukraine war, which was necessary.
To me it's annoying that the West is so radical on this issue that they're immediately labelling him a scary Russian asset. Also they only care whether he's going to be in the way of their agendas regarding Ukraine. No fucks given about our mafia preventing our country from developing and this being our chance to do something.
I understand that going soft on Russia could be playing with fire, but we just have to WAIT AND SEE. We are willing to take this risk.
PensiveFish@reddit
There's nothing moderate about legitimizing Russian claims in Eastern Europe. Russia attacked and occupied territories of a sovereign state under the false pretense that they were protecting the locals. You should be able to state this obvious thing - if you don't, you're either a Russian asset or an useful idiot. Neither qualify you to be the top elected politician of a country.
Btw, your hope that Radev is going to solve the corruption issues and put Bulgaria on a proper growing path is just delusion. He's one of a slew of candidates in Eastern European politics pushed through social media by Russia and China. They have no political program, they just ride the wave of discontent following the COVID pandemic policies and the inherent inequalities of capitalism, but turned to 11 by manipulating the virality of political messages during elections. Expect Radev to "fight the abusive EU" for his entire mandate and install his own clique in power, while the country stagnates. Orban has shown how to do it.
KaiserKavik@reddit
What makes him Russia aligned exactly?
Vesko85@reddit
Nothing special—he’s simply conservative, not liberal, and he won’t always say “yes” to Brussels like the previous ones did.
DushaaTM@reddit
Isn't that like a good thing?
Vesko85@reddit
To stand up for things that are in Bulgaria’s interest — yes. If it leans toward pro-Russian ideas — no. But we’ll have to see how things turn out; time will tell.
desigk@reddit
The two are not exclusive by default, which is a controversial view ..
ViscountBuggus@reddit
Has publicly stated that Crimea is rightfully russian. Concluded his campaign by showing pictures of himself shaking Putin's hand. Shit like that.
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
He didn’t say that Crimea is rightfully Russian, he said that Crimea is under Russian control at the moment and I really don’t understand how is that being pro-Russian
Korin23@reddit
No one from his party can answer who is the attacker and who is being attacked in the Russian Ukraine war
cordia543@reddit
Oh you know. Constant russian dick sucking any chance he gets.
Amarranthine@reddit
At the beginning he was backed up by the defacto communist party or their direct heir, which had very pro-russian ideals.
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
Not screaming Слава Україні 3 times a day
Live-In-Berlin@reddit
While my household didn't vote for him and we're extremely skeptical, we of course hope for the best.
whodatt_91@reddit
Great, given that almost 50% supported him. Obviously not resditors. 90% of bulgarian redditors are from ПП-ДБ, so they are considering suicide or leaving, lmao.
hihimorius@reddit
false news - he is not Russia aligned.
haptapdupadulap@reddit
There is a curse above the balkans states. Everytime when they reach in a good and promising situation, the people are starting to say : hold my rakja! I thnk we love to be low.
DamoDimitrov@reddit
Nice try to spread misinformation and hate.
Western-Pear5874@reddit
Now he's the Mafia state.
LibertyChecked28@reddit
That's not how it works, "Mafia state" by definition hints of some sort of backstage clan that pulls all of the stage within a country with ''politics'' being nothing more than smoke and mirrors for the playground of few families just like Japan, Italy, Belgium, Russsia, ect.
Radev is the most stereotypical "Gov. guy from the army" that can exist, he has no monetary backing, nor media infrastructure, not political agency, nor egotistical ambitions, no private companies- he only shows up to carry on his gov. given tasks, and nothing more.
ExoticAd7546@reddit
No monetary or media backing? hahah as you say my guy
ValtenBG@reddit
As if it wasn't until now
Western-Pear5874@reddit
My point exactly. Only the Puppet in the front has been changed. Just like in Romania.
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
This guy knows, Bulgarian politics is just people in competition on who will be the new guy in charge of corruption
dragonbab@reddit
Wasnt this guy a President already? What exactly changed?
ednorog@reddit
Quite a bit uneasy. There are so many troubling things about Radev that I cannot understand why so many people still decided to trust him.
His biggest campaign event had Russian flags and photos of him shaking hands with Putin.
Keeps repeating that Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield, thus implying Ukraine should give up territory.
He says he's going to fight oligarchs and the mafia but never did anything tangible about that. At one point he appointed an interim vice minister of justice who was a protegé of one of these oligarchs.
He named his party 'Progressive Bulgaria' but he's very conservative, says LGBT people are already protected by current laws, supports flat tax rates, that is, opposes progressive ones (the, what, party, again?). Meanwhile he expresses concern about poverty and inequality.
People around him are an extremely random collection of former sport stars, former military men, TV talking heads who for years did propaganda for him before joining his party now, and so many more that no one knows anything about.
He assigned (approved, to be more precise, after an interim premier he himself assigned proposed to him) the heads of secret services who have since done nothing to fight corruption among ruling elites but have instead been used massively for repressing the opposition.
His own wife made posts online that were visibly antagonistic against him, though they were rather cryptic and no one knows what she really meant.
He never went to a debate, only did maybe two interviews and didn't make widely known his views about pretty much anything. He just thrived in that type of intransparency.
All of these barely scratch the surface. To most people they're probably kind of soft, but there is a shitton of such arguments against him.
Meanwhile he assured that he won't be taking part in sending arms and financial aid to Ukraine but he won't block the EU from doing it. Which at least is a bit reassuring, seeing that it may have been a lot worse.
On a positive side, there are really good chances now that together with the biggest pro-EU and anti-corruption party he will start unclogging the legal system which has been in the hands of a few oligarch type of power players, so that's something to look forward to. Maybe there's a chance that high-ranking politicians here will finally start getting arrested and taken to court for the outrageous corruption they have been taking part in for decades.
Academic_Yard_2659@reddit
Bad, but not terribly bad, could have been worse
pac258@reddit
He is not pro-Russian. We are not leaving the EU, Eurozone, Schengen. Wanting to have diplomatic talks eventually with Russia does not make you their lapdog
Random_Guy37@reddit
Yeah, if they start doing the same shit as Orban did with Hungary, EU should make them an example case and kick them out. Elect Russian assets, no EU for you
dwartbg9@reddit
OK, so then no more EU for France and Austria, then.
Vesko85@reddit
The only thing is—they can’t, because there’s nothing like that written in the treaties. As for your hostility, there’s nothing to comment on.
Catman_192@reddit
Bulgarians, is he really a new orban?
Creepy-Addition-8163@reddit
We will probably get a new election soon anyways
Funny_Address_412@reddit
The liberals lost, even if I don't like the new guy that's enough of a victory for me
shadowminds97@reddit
Idk, i still love my Bulgarian brothers
sonte2@reddit
It is embarrassing that we’ve lived under communism for 50 years, we’ve surpassed the living standards of the Russians thanks to the EU, half of the country has seen and has lived in the west at this point and yet it continues to vote for the same people that destroyed Bulgaria’s future. We have numerous examples of pro Russia countries that we can compare our living standard to but it appears these facts don’t matter for a huge chunk of our population. What makes the situation worse is that all of the people who voted for the Russian bootlicker parties will not be returning to Bulgaria when things go bad, they won’t be sending their kids to work and study in the glorious Russia either but they’ll continue to shamelessly earn German salaries, drive German cars and use American phones while complaining about the EU and NATO.
Familiar-Custard-216@reddit
You make it sound like Radev will leave the EU and join Russia? What are you talking about? Just because he is not as pro west and PPDB doesn’t make him pro Russian
Also I would say relax on the “Bulgaria surpassing Russian living standards” Russia and Turkey and Serbia are not far off in terms of gdp per capita with Bulgaria, despite them having lower prices than us.
Also, Bulgaria is a fucking dump. At the very bottom of every positive EU statistic, corruption and infrastructure so bad even Russians and Turks wonder how tf we are in the EU.
There is a reason why half of Bulgaria went to work in the west. Reality is they were forced to and they want to stay in Bulgaria, but the state is so badly ran and corrupted it’s impossible.
If maybe the EU SPONSORED pro eu GERB party didn’t actually make corruption worse, then Bulgarians wouldn’t have to leave
sonte2@reddit
I’m aware that Radev won’t leave the EU, I apologize if I was being overly dramatic but the fact still stands. Bulgarians see that the west has better living standards and are aware that Bulgaria is poor because of the Russian influence but yet they continue to vote for pro Russian politicians.
Many people on here consider Romania and Greece to have higher living standards than Bulgaria. If you believe that these countries are better than Bulgaria then you also have to acknowledge that Bulgaria has a higher living standards than Russia. So yes Bulgaria has surpassed these countries, especially Russia by a significant margin.
I would rather that Bulgaria be at the bottom of the EU statistics than have it be next to the richest countries in the Russian sphere of influence (Belarus, Georgia, etc).
Yeah there’s a reason why the country is corrupt and it is because we ourselves are corrupt and naive.
I don’t deny that the EU has done some damage but at the end of the day we are also to be held accountable. We started with the same politicians as every other former Warsaw pact eu country if anything we had it better than the Baltics who were a part of the Soviet Union and yet they are pulling ahead. You can’t just blame foreigners for our shortcomings. But I agree that we are yet to see what Radev will deliver.
Schwanty93@reddit
xzxnz@reddit
How does he feel about us ? 👉👈
Shot_Plankton6422@reddit
Not good
iLoveDocks@reddit
Я уже начала изучать русский язык.
Asleep-Customer1320@reddit
Terrible
Happy-Hour88@reddit
I want to immigrate abroad. Being around idiots is hard.
vlcmodan@reddit
România is a few years away from having the same situation
dobrits@reddit
I mean Vucic called him the same event to congratulate him, what else can we say.
restitutorlux@reddit
This is the time when we know the exact answer to this: 45% of Bulgarians love the results, right?
BicycleAdditional360@reddit
If good guys won, democracy is good. If bad guys did – democracy is at risk.
Remember it, kids
Cheap_Grocery8634@reddit
It's wild how this feels like a recurring theme across the region. The parallels being drawn here are pretty hard to ignore, honestly. It definitely seems like external influence is a major concern for a lot of people. Really makes you wonder about the future direction this is heading.
1Gothian1@reddit
This is when your country is geopolitically at the crossroads of empires, you gotta please everyone and Radev fits this role as he is both for EU integration and for not funding the war in Ukraine. It's a stance I utterly hate, but then again Borisov as Pro-EU he claims to be, did the same.
Queasy_Confection_92@reddit
We had elections? And people cared to waste their time to vote? Lmao
Fanhunter4ever@reddit
A nee Orban. Great.
Hector_Haki@reddit
Germany will have those Nazis in their goverment in the Next 10 years
Austerlitz2310@reddit
Vučić's new romance
SScorpid@reddit
There are some positives, some negatives and a lot more unknows than what i'm comfortable with.
+ He campaigned on rooting out the corruption and oligarchy model of the previous governments.
+ From the looks of it he has the majority and this is a guaranteed stable government for now, which we really needed.
- He is a Russian apologist through and through. He claims Chrimea is Russian just because they occupy it. He's called for lower sanctions, peace talks (aka just give Putin what he wants and keep our heads down) and closer relations which is very worrying to some of us. Most Bulgarians apparently are indifferent or support that.
- He hasn't made any specific campaign promises about anything. A lot of it is just vibes.
- His interim governments in the past (between elections) have been hit or miss, with some pretty bad economical decisions (Botash deal).
- He's showing some authoritarian tendencies. The macho military type, the works. People from his party have mentioned that he is the sole decision maker in the party. I'm not a fan.
- His cabinet has ex-people from the same oligarchical model Radev claims to want to bring down. To me it looks like we're just getting new oligarchs.
He got a huge majority with a respectable voter activity so i guess my countrymen are indifferent to or even support those negatives. Nothing to do now but wait and see how bad it's gonna be.
RedScarySpectre@reddit
On the positive side he is not American aligned. Always see the glass half full
Reasonable_Boss8060@reddit
Phew. Just as we in Romania were getting worried that Bulgaria is doing the right things and they will overcome us… they got their Orban:)
kikogamerJ2@reddit
Idk check the election results?
Strict-Ad-102@reddit
The people who can think hate him,but most are sheep anyway
Township_Roller@reddit
Like fucking shit. Most people really didn't know who they were voting for, thinking he is just a stable and balanced guy who doesn't want any trouble. It's crap.
krazystanbg@reddit
Bulgarians love to vote for someone new coming in. We saw it happen with Slavi and Kircho. Now this guy but he had some followers from being president. We think some new brought messiah will fix the situation. Spoiler: he won’t.
Consistent-Low-0@reddit
why the eu-al
Vesko85@reddit
Because they are highly corrupt.
mrwhite14X@reddit
Is he actually pro-russian or just against the bureaucrats of EU and their policies?
CafdentheTrue@reddit
We will see but I don't think we should call everyone pro-russian just because they don't want to spend money on ukraine when they have their own more realist problems it can be just pragmatic
PlamenIB@reddit
Usually the euro funds change someone’s perspective.
Fabulous-Track-8543@reddit
Well said
snooprs@reddit
He distanced himself from Putin a bit after the war started. He keeps saying pro-EU and NATO stuff and that's why younger folk voted for him.
Remains to be seen, but if he turns to Kremlin I think we will topple government again.
akvarista11@reddit
Do we live in different countries? Bro literally had a picture of a handshake with Putin on his latest rally…
snooprs@reddit
Yeah sorry I'm not familiar with everything he does, maybe he is still a shill.
AffectionateWash7787@reddit
Finally a good new.... Was a good president hopefully a great premier. My wife dislikes him but he's probably a good choice for the country
ostrichConductor@reddit
Without taking a side, he won because he played it as if he's not pro-Russian.
Effective_Push3271@reddit
He will bring balance to the force. It won’t be perfect but this is the best that has happened to Bulgaria since 1991.
Candid-Shopping8773@reddit
It's a drastic overstatement that that he's "Russia-aligned". Just a run of the mill anti-elite populist who will take money from whoever offers it, because the establishment won't. Bulgaria certainly needed government change because corruption was over every reasonable limits, and people voted for it very cleanly, let's respect people's choice. It wasn't some knife-edge election.
The_Jumpar@reddit
Best choice for Bulgaria. Everyone else is either the reason why we are in this hole or failed as a politician.
Sashpeto@reddit
We are sooo screwed ...
cordia543@reddit
And if you went to even one of his organized protests in 20 or 25 you supported this.
Sashpeto@reddit
This is such a stupid take lmao
RandomPolishCatholic@reddit
You are probably only getting answers from like 10% of the most leftist Bulgarians for their opinion, so what they say will likely be heavily skewed. If he won a landslide victory, then he has the support of the majority. Whats the problem? Most of these “X is Russia aligned” articles have no proof anyways.
Forsaken-Hotel7535@reddit
We just got rid of Orban and now you fucking idiots do this. Fucking hell :(
Korin23@reddit
The guy is yet to stand against the media machine of the status quo’s and every bomb they have planted. Also no need for coalition means full responsibility which never ends well in Bulgaria. Still not good results imo
NoDoughnut8225@reddit
Our elephant
cordia543@reddit
He looks more like a rat
Alib668@reddit
Bugger! Full veto powers happening again
RustCohle_23@reddit
I really hope this is getting blown out of proportion with his pro-Russian feelings. He knows there will be a strong reaction to anything too drastic from his side as most of the people that went out to protest last summer were pro-European and we'd be glad to fill the streets again.
However, he seems to be smart so he can just play the long game with some small moves eastwards which would guarantee him more than 1 mandate, which would be catastrophic for us in the long term.
Ujemegaz@reddit
This guy gave Rama a cold shower. I think he is allright.
ViscountBuggus@reddit
Think again
Lipa2014@reddit
I am so happy that the craziness and the unstable coalition governments of the past years are over; we finally have someone elected with a huge majority.
Plus, I like Radev, he is like the only adult in the room and the only one with heavy leadership experience and qualities.
Turbulent-Debate7661@reddit
as a greek im concerned because our LNG pipe that passes through bulgaria is in shambles right now.
ViscountBuggus@reddit
Bulgaria has been in shambles for like 6 years now if it helps
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
This LNG terminal has been in shambles since inception tbf. I think it opened 2 years ago and has been in operation for like 3 months in total
Alternative-Tie-4970@reddit
Getting rid of Orban was like a game of whack a mole then
Worried-Owl-9198@reddit
My congratulations to Putin lmao
Funny-Nectarine-7810@reddit
Putin has been catching lots of L's lately. Its a small consolation prize after losing his boy Orban
According-Fun-4746@reddit
putin invaded my house
akvarista11@reddit
The smart people are sad the others are happy
BadBasik@reddit
"Russian aligned Rumen Radev" damn, they could have used another word with r in it, like..
Respecter? Rednoser? Receiver?
credditz0rz@reddit
Russia rectum resident Rumen Radev
According-Fun-4746@reddit
no cuz we MUST BE ANTI RUSSIA
like seriously why can't we just have normal relations with russia again?
roctac@reddit
Russia that bombed children hospitals and drone babas on the street. That Russia!?
According-Fun-4746@reddit
tell me where the children hospital was bomboclated
was it empty or full of azov losers?
also that was the ussr not russia
Failed_General@reddit
Because you know ww1 trench warfare in mainland europe with millions in casualties is more for 1916 rather than 2026
Vesko85@reddit
I voted for the pro-European liberal party. But Radev is not a Russian agent, as everyone is trying to portray him. Nor will he be like Orbán. He is a NATO general, and all his actions as president have been pro-European. He is simply conservative, not liberal. The fact that he won’t blindly support every unreasonable decision from Brussels doesn’t mean he will be against the EU.
Pro EU people here are overdramatizing but calm down a bit and wait to see what happens. Whether we like it or not, he won full support from the Bulgarian people. And unfortunately, the pro-European corrupt parties are also to blame for that.
vmro1985@reddit
What’s a Bulgarian ?
AdamBerner2002@reddit
I would say not good but the people who voted for him are probably happy.
Star_Light122113@reddit
Not great but I am not freaking out like majority of people.
Look does he have some slight pro-russia tint? Very likely so but in reality as of now the only thing he has said in concrete is that he does not want Bulgaria to send help to Ukraine but WON'T use the Veto to block the rest of the EU from doing so.
So in reality he said nothing that different from Magyar. Plus again he and his whole party are basically a big mystery as to what they will do exactly.
So TLDR: It's very much a wait and see approach
Best Case Scenario - This guy turns out to be like Magyar
Worst Case Scenario - This guy turns out to be like Orban
So grab your popcorn and enjoy the shitshow.
SOHONEYSAME@reddit
is Radev pro Turkey?
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
Turkey is not really a national discussion nearly as much in Bulgaria as it is in Greece. When it comes to foreign policy the big discussions are always centered around Russia, the US and the EU
abandonedtulpa@reddit
I feel like that one dude from the article
roctac@reddit
That is the former transportation minister Shishkov?
abandonedtulpa@reddit
Couldn’t recognize him in this picture tbh
lifeseeker4@reddit
Russia-aligned is pure propaganda (I am Bulgarian and didn't vote for him)
SOHONEYSAME@reddit
what is Radev policy on Turkey?
hhh0511@reddit
He signed an expensive deal with Turkey a few years ago that gives us access to their LNG terminals (which we don't use) and we have no option to back out of. So judge for yourself
lifeseeker4@reddit
I haven't heard him say anything in particular.
lifeseeker4@reddit
Total turkish death
wandering_k1w1@reddit
Babish is a russian stooge also.
According-Fun-4746@reddit
oh no how dare someone wants normal relationships with russia oh what a world what a world
roctac@reddit
Russia commits war crimes and murders its own citizens. Why would you want to have relations with a country like that?
According-Fun-4746@reddit
but enough about Ukraine
topspout@reddit
According-Fun-4746@reddit
he likes to genocide his own people btw
topspout@reddit
Putin eats babies by the 1000s
According-Fun-4746@reddit
come up with better propaganda or just spam gore cuz that's what you guys are most known for
Weissenburg_21@reddit
I mean I don't hate Russian people, but honestly most politicians that go in this direction are just demagogues
whyfair@reddit
Radev is far from a bad option. Yes he is not very aligned with far left, like most of the EU, yet, he is not as pro-russian as people seem to say. The only difference is that he is not supporting Ukraine, and by that logic, US is pro-russian. I would say his views are centric, with emphasis on internal affairs. Bulgaria needs someone who can reap benefits of balancing the scales between th east and the west, and he is that person right now. Call him Orban if you want, but looking at all the progress in Hungary over the years, compared to many other EU countries, I do not see it as a bad thing.
KhailObre@reddit
We have been screwed so much by various government partys that I just want things to be peaceful and the inflation to pace down. I don't really care who drives the ship as long we don't sink...
GrandadPyjamas@reddit
Out with one, in with another.
ivanp359@reddit
Not good at all
HuckleberryUpbeat518@reddit
The "Russia-aligned" part is allegation of his opposing parties. One of which has recently been involved in a huge pedophilia scandal, like a Bulgarian version of the Epstein's island. However these same media are not interested in that at all for some reason...
mihor@reddit
I applaud Bulgarians, they chose correctly! We need to balance the EPP dictatorship.
ConcreteDonkeyK@reddit
I wouldn't panic prematurely, our politics are very divided , this result is because he managed to lure a protest vote. His voters have very little in common between them.
Aferimus@reddit
From EU perspective, Bulgaria is as important as a traffic light in a GTA game
OptimusTron222@reddit
Not rly, they have access to the Black Sea, have lots of land for agriculture plus lots of coal and metal mines. It is also quite a big territory.
coleto22@reddit
The bashing of Radev and painting him as Russia- aligned is only pushing more people to him.
He is not Russia-aligned, at least not openly. But he is not Ukraine-aligned and the West doesn't forgive him for that.
Scared_Hat3018@reddit
He is not pro-Russian. How do they feel? They elected him in a democratic election.
backhand_english@reddit
hey man, Bulgaria is doing pretty ok these last years, right?
[Votes for PutinPuppet]
📉
Acework23@reddit
Saying he is russian aligned is propaganda and false, he is very measured and honest
_Spiderbrood_@reddit
Packing rn 🧳🧳/j
itisnotstupid@reddit
Bulgaria is the next Hungary 110%
Dimo145@reddit
Uncertain, not impossible not unlikely, but simply... uncertain for now
Affectionate-Ad6801@reddit
I don't know the guy but i doubt he is as pro- russian like orban he seems like he has some good views and the only exception is not helping Ukraine in war
Excellent_Jeweler_43@reddit
He is not, it is just a change from GERB who were following every EU order like a vassal state.
He has said he will not veto anything, but he is for dialogue with Russia and resolving the war through diplomacy rather than continued millitary expansion from both sides.
Some see it as a Russian talking point, some see it as a different view on the whole situtation. At the moment fuck knows what is, but it is too early to say for sure.
scales_and_fangs@reddit
As a Bulgarian not happy at all. The guy has authoritarian tendencies, pro-Russian, likely not to support deeper EU integration. His anti-corruption mantra is just that (or he lacks qualifie people, no idea which is valid) as one of the interim governments he appointed struck an abysmal gas deal with Turkiye. Worse, his results mean he is popular, won"t be in a coalition. Bulgaria will likely suffer his presence for 10-15 more years
I hope I am wrong but these elections don't make me happy.
Hristo_14@reddit
I am feel, i am very feel
MaxSch@reddit
Still not sure if this "landslide win" matters. To form a government, the winning party must have a majority in the parliament (121 out of 240 seats) and Radev doesnt. We are just tired of voting - we've had an election twice every year and each time the results are the same - no majority for a single party, so they form coalitions and these coalitions eventually break up.
Many-Relationship149@reddit
He has 130+, unfortunately
ricardoflic01@reddit
He does
IhateEfrickingA@reddit