In the past 30 years, Bulgaria has undergone a number of political and social tests. This has affected the public adjustments towards significant topics related to the political agenda and the future of this country. If we look back at the 2009-2019 decade, we will notice that last year there was a slight increase of optimism among the Bulgarians. Perhaps, this is due to the stability and the predictability of the government and the fact that the message Bulgaria sends abroad is well accepted by the European and the international partners:

In the recent years it seems that Bulgaria is trying to be in good relations with all potential partners, sociologist Parvan Simeonov said in an interview for Radio Bulgaria. The current government is trying to maintain good relations with all geopolitical factors and allies.

This was proven by the visit of Bulgaria’s Premier Boyko Borissov to the USA and his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House. Borissov managed to refute the opinion that he is not well accepted in the USA through the agreements he made there.

The success of this policy was clearly evident during Bulgaria’s rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2018 as well. Parvan Simeonov cannot forecast how long this successful period will continue, because in his words- “the world is becoming an increasingly worrying place”

As for domestic politics and the choice the Bulgarian citizens make, Parvan Simeonov pointed out that the Bulgarian society periodically gets to the situation to look for new heroes to save them from those in power in a certain moment. In this sense, 2019 made no exception:

It seems that there is enough niche for new political players. Recently, the number of candidates wishing to change the political process has increased. I expect that in 2020, and especially in 2021, we will see most of their actions, the Bulgarian sociologist points out.

In Parvan Simeonov’s view, the beginning of 2020 in political aspect was much more interesting than 2019, which was the culmination of a period of economic predictability and serene political process that did not lead to any significant changes. As we can see from the events of the last days, the situation is becoming turbulent again. The current political reality is conditioned by strong Prosecutor’s Office, strong President and a new geopolitical and manual government of the country, the sociologist notes.

These and other findings about the Bulgarian political reality were presented at the annual review of Gallup sociological agency- Political Process and Public Opinion in Bulgaria in 2019. This edition is also a kind of a flashback of the past three decades, because in 2019 Bulgaria marked 30 years since the beginning of the transition from communism to democracy. It also answers a number of questions the Bulgarians continue to ask such as- are we ready for market economy and for democracy; do we approve it or not?

English version: Kostadin Atanasov