Although a member of theEuropean Union <\/b> since 2007, Bulgaria <\/b>remains politically, culturally and socially distant from the Western core<\/b> of Europe. <\/p>\n
The reasons are profoundly historical, cultural and institutional. The country was under Ottoman rule<\/b> for five centuries, cut off by the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution<\/b>. The Orthodox Christian tradition reinforced a more collective, less individualistic mentality. <\/p>\n
This was followed by the communist period,<\/b> where Bulgaria was one of the most loyal followers<\/b> of the Soviet Union. <\/b>The transition to democracy <\/b>after 1989 was slow and painful:<\/b> oligarchy, high corruption and weak institutional counterbalances maintained a hybrid<\/b> political culture.<\/p>\n
In this context, Bulgaria’s electoral “Centre Left<\/b>” differs radically from the social democratic parties of Western Europe. While the French, German or Scandinavian centre-left<\/b> focuses on progressive social values, multiculturalism, environmentalism and a strong welfare state with an emphasis on minority rights, the Bulgarian one is in more conservative<\/b> territory. <\/p>\n
It advocates economic paternalism<\/b> and protection of “national sovereignty”, and has advocated against gay marriage<\/b> and has expressed reservations about sanctions<\/b> against Russia<\/b>. Even the election-winning party, Progressive Bulgaria<\/b>, is much closer to post-communist Eastern European models than to Western social democracy<\/b>. <\/p>\n
In social<\/b> it is conservative, in foreign policy<\/b> it has a pro-Russian profile, in economics<\/b> it is based on left-wing paternalism (high pensions, state protection) and anti-oligarchy, not on green transition or progressive taxation.
The difference is not accidental.<\/p>\n
In Bulgaria the political spectrum <\/b>was shaped by opposition to (or in favor of) the communist <\/b>past. The “Left<\/b>” was identified with the pre-1989 class, the “Right<\/b>” with the anti-communist, pro-Western transition. Thus, even today, the priorities of the Bulgarian “centre-left” remain more nationalist, less “woke<\/b>” and more oriented towards economic survival than towards the post-material values of Western Europe. <\/p>\n
Bulgaria<\/b> is in Europe<\/b>, but not yet part of the West<\/b>. Therefore, when Western analysts analyze it, they should take off their “Western glasses”. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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