Page 68 - bne_May magazine 2023_20230503 BRICS

68 Opinion
bne May 2023
Ivan Kalchev, a Bulgarian IT expert and civic activist, went to fight for Ukraine after the Russian invasion. / Ivan Kalchev BALKAN BLOG
Bulgaria’s two faces Denitsa Koseva in Sofia
The war in Ukraine has amplified the rift within Bulgaria between pro-Western liberals and illiberal pro-Russians.
With the fifth general election in two years approaching, the population of the EU’s poorest and most corrupt member state appears more divided than ever, with no apparent path towards unification. While these divisions existed before the war, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago helped solidify them.
Those defining themselves as liberal and pro-Western support Ukraine and are throwing themselves into helping refugees, not only from Ukraine but also the victims of other devastating events such as the quake in Turkey and Syria and, closer to home, recent floods in Bulgaria.
The other group, which believes the country should abandon its pro-Western path and return to the Russian orbit, is preoccupied with issues such as whether Bulgaria will lose its sovereignty if the country joins the eurozone, or if the minds of young people will be twisted by the teaching of so-called “gender ideology” in schools.
Similar dividing lines have appeared in other countries in the region, where those who espouse traditional values clash
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with those who take a more liberal approach, but the gulf is particularly deep in Bulgaria.
The same divisions are reflected in voting intentions ahead of the April 2 snap general election. The first group seems more inclined to vote for the reformist pro-Western coalition Change Continues-Democratic Bulgaria, while the second would back pro-Russian Vazrazhdane or the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).
The positioning of some other parties is less clear. The Gerb- SDS coalition, for example, claims to be pro-Western, but during his time in power Gerb’s leader Boyko Borissov made some valuable “gifts” to Russia, notably building the local section of the TurkStream gas pipeline that bypassed Ukraine.
The fighters
The separation of the two sides of Bulgarian society began years before the start of the Russian war in Ukraine, but after the invasion the population and politicians openly split into those supporting Ukraine and its refugees, and those backing Russia.
In the first days after the invasion, thousands of Bulgarians started aiding refugees and gathering funds to help the