The landslide victory of ex-President Rumen Radev’s party in Bulgaria’s April 19 parliamentary election is seen by many as a boost to Russia-friendly, Ukraine-skeptic voices within the European Union.
Running on an anti-corruption platform, Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria (PB) secured 44.6% of the vote, winning a majority and a chance to govern without a coalition partner.
The result could strain Ukraine’s relations with Bulgaria, a 6-million-strong NATO and EU member that has backed Kyiv since R
The thing is that in Bulgaria current “pro-EU” politicians (think Borisov and Peevski) are so directly dependent on Putin, that anyone who is just friendly with him looks already better. I know it is a superficial observation, but this is the vote of superficial people. As a president, Radev had plenty of opportunities to substantiate his anti-corruption rethoric, and he missed them. It makes little difference whether he did it out of bad intention or inability (which is often claimed, but hard to confirm).