Bulgaria
The story
2001–2021 · From a two-party system to permanent volatility
Bulgaria's post-communist party system, initially split between the Socialists (BSP) and the centre-right SDS, was upended in 2001 when former King Simeon II's anti-establishment movement won over 42 percent of the vote from a standing start. Boyko Borisov's conservative GERB, the first party to win consecutive elections (from 2013), governed for three terms between 2009 and 2021 — but that era of relative stability has since given way to constant reshuffling.
2021–2026 · Eight elections, no stable government
From spring 2021 to spring 2026, Bulgaria held eight parliamentary elections. GERB won the largest share in April 2021 but couldn't form a government; the anti-establishment There Is Such A People (ITN) won the rerun in July 2021 but refused to cooperate, forcing a third election. A new liberal party, We Continue The Change (PP), won in November 2021 and briefly governed with BSP, Democratic Bulgaria and ITN — a coalition that collapsed within months. A fragile PP–GERB alliance followed the 2023 election, undone by GERB's losses in the 2023 local elections; a 2025 GERB–BSP–ITN coalition broke down in December 2025, triggering snap elections in April 2026.
2026 · Progressive Bulgaria's landslide
Progressive Bulgaria (PB), formed in March 2026 as a nominal coalition of older social-democratic parties, was in practice a vehicle for Rumen Radev — president since 2017, re-elected in 2021, and the first Bulgarian head of state to resign the presidency to take office as prime minister. PB won 43.9 percent and an outright majority. It combines economically interventionist policies with conservative social views, lacks a clear ideology beyond Radev himself, and is classified as populist and nationalist; Radev has long been described as pro-Russian, a label he rejects, and opposed rapid euro adoption as president.
The radical right
2005–2021 · Ataka and its splinters
Ataka, founded in 2005 by TV journalist Volen Siderov, set the template that later far-right parties would follow: uncompromising rhetoric against a "traitor" establishment, hate speech against Roma, Turkish and Muslim minorities, staunch opposition to NATO, pro-Russian sympathies, and left-wing economics such as bank nationalisation. It won eight percent in 2005 and nine in 2009, then lost ground during the 2010s to the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB), formed partly by Ataka defectors, and the re-established VMRO, both promoting similar hate speech against Roma and Turkish minorities. In 2017 all three ran together, then joined a GERB-led coalition government (Ataka left in 2019; VMRO and NFSB stayed until 2021) — despite GERB having previously ruled out cooperation with an openly pro-Russian party. Ataka's support has since collapsed to half a percent.
2014– · Revival's rise
Revival (V), founded in 2014 by Kostadin Kostadinov on 2 August, the anniversary of the 1903 Ilinden Uprising against Ottoman rule, has become post-communist Bulgaria's most successful far-right party. "Kostadinov has
described Roma people using dehumanising language; a running mate has made similarly extreme
remarks about Jewish Bulgarians. The party organised a January 2022 attempt to storm the National Assembly and spread pandemic conspiracy theories. It is strongly anti-EU, anti-NATO and pro-Russian, left-leaning on economics, and socially conservative — though its vote fell from 12.9% to 4.2% in the 2026 election.
Newer entrants, also voted out in 2026
Velichie ("Greatness"), founded 2023, focused on energy policy and euro-adoption referenda before internal defections and a 2026 wipeout. Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh), founded 2024 by a former ITN and PP member, campaigned on crime control and opposing the euro. Together, the three far-right parties still gathered around 10 percent of the vote in 2026.
2026 · A DIFFERENT KIND OF POPULIST
Progressive Bulgaria (PB), founded in March 2026 as the political vehicle of Rumen Radev, is a populist force defined by style rather than ideological radicalism. Radev resigned the presidency to lead it, built on an anti-corruption, anti-oligarchy message. PB combines economic interventionism with social conservatism, favours a more pragmatic stance toward Russia and opposed rapid euro adoption. It won an outright majority in the 2026 election, forming Bulgaria’s first single-party government in years after the instability of 2021–2025, when Bulgaria held repeated snap elections.
EP elections
Ataka won three seats in 2007 and co-founded the short-lived Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty group with France's National Front, but lost its seats before regaining two in 2009 — both eventually non-inscrits, and gone by 2014. VMRO, running with Reload Bulgaria in 2014, then alone in 2019, held two ECR seats; its MEP Angel Dzhambazki faced repeated accusations of hate speech against Jews, Roma and LGBT people.
In 2024, VMRO lost its seats and Revival won three, becoming a founding member of the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations group.
V
Revival
- Economics Left
- Social issues Conservative
- EU Hard euroscepticism
- Authoritarianism High
PB
Progressive Bulgaria
- Economics Centre
- Social issues Conservative
- EU Soft euroscepticism
- Authoritarianism Low