Protestant Revival in Bulgaria
On November 10, 1989, a day after the border between East and West Berlin opened, the Bulgarian Communist leader of over 30 years resigned and change toward democracy began (Lalkov, 62-63). For those of us, who lived in the final days of Communist Bulgaria, the Fall of the Wall was a modern-day miracle. Emerging from severe Communist persecution and surrounded by the Balkan religious wars, the country of Bulgaria suddenly experienced a time of liberation. Before our very eyes, began a national spiritual revival despite a collapsing economy and political insecurity. Read more
Election Results and Regrets or What Just Happened in Bulgaria?
While the eyes of the world were turned to the tragedy in the subway, Bulgarian democracy lost yet a new parliamentary election. Coalition for Bulgaria, the newly renamed Bulgarian socialist party with communistic heritage swept the votes with 34%. The majority party of the past four years, Simeon II National Movement led by the former Bulgarian king remained second with 22% and the Turkish ethnic group Movement for Rights and Freedoms followed with 14%. The in-split democratic forces entered the election in three separate wings to win a total of 21% as neither one of the three passed the 10% barrier. Similarly, and surprisingly for all, was the win of the newly formed movement Ataka (Attack) which grabbed over 8% of the nation’s voters. The last remains under suspicion because of its controversial campaign incorporating nationalistic and chauvinistic propaganda with anti-ethnic messages.
It is only a guess if the elections were fair, with approximately 50% national participation and over one million Bulgarians living and working abroad. Regardless, a government with socialist majority should be expected. Such will enforce extreme left direction in politics similar to the time before the Berlin Wall.
Bulgaria’s entrance into the European Union will be delayed and the cooperation with NATO will be only minimal. Salaries may increase slightly, while prices will change drastically. The price of gas and bread have already gone up with hardly any time to forget the pre-election promises of political peace, economical prosperity, wellbeing of the people and security for the future. Promises will not be kept; in fact, they are already being broken. It is clear, that the Bulgarian people will suffer.
A socialist cabinet in can mean only one thing for the protestant movement in the country. The government will have authority and use it to strictly reinforce the new religious law. Orthodox monopoly over religious life will remain strong and the government will interfere in the business of the church through endless legalities or police force, much similar to the raids of July, 2004.
This is not new for the church in Bulgaria which went through a similar depression in 1996-97. It was during that time that the Bulgarian Christian Coalition was established to represent the evangelical believers in Bulgaria. Due to organizational, leadership and strategy flaws the Coalition received only 21,000 votes – hardly enough to enter Parliament. This failure should be a wake-up call for the Bulgarian Protestants, and especially for the Pentecostal majority among them. If the church indeed lives a political theology, as Moltmann claims, it is time for the church in Bulgaria to regain its rightful social place.
Bulgaria and Romania Urged to Speed Reforms
By Judy Dempsey, International Herald Tribune
The European Union’s top official responsible for enlargement issued a blunt warning Tuesday to Bulgaria and Romania, telling them their membership in the EU in 2007 would be postponed if they did not implement necessary reforms. ”I am proposing to recommend postponing membership if one or both countries cannot implement reform,” Olli Rehn, the EU’s enlargement commissioner, said during a meeting in Berlin hosted by the Institute for European Politics and the European Commission. But in contrast to his remarks on Bulgaria and Romania, Rehn, a Finn and former politician, said EU member states should not close the door on Turkey despite increasing skepticism among Europeans toward enlargement. ”Europe needs a stable, democratic and prosperous Turkey that will adopt our values and rule of law,” Rehn said. ”It is in our strategic interests.”
Rehn’s warnings were made after his meetings with Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer of Germany and Angela Merkel, leader of the opposition conservative Christian Democrats, who is campaigning to oust Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, a Social Democrat, in elections expected in September. Merkel supports the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the EU despite the slow pace of reforms in both countries, but she opposes granting full EU membership to Turkey, even if Turkey meets all the EU’s conditions. Instead, as she stated in her party’s election manifesto published Monday, the Christian Democrats and their sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union, want a ”special partnership of Turkey.” The Christian Democrats said full EU membership of Turkey would undermine the integration of Europe. Many members inside the Christian Democrats and the Christian Social Union, however, often say the reason why they do not want Turkey admitted as a full EU member is because the EU would be undermined as a ”Christian club.”
Rehn, a staunch defender of enlargement as a tool for exporting security and stability, openly challenged the view that Turkey’s membership in the EU would slow integration. He even questioned what was meant by a ”privileged partnership.” ”Widening and deepening of the EU can continue at the same time or at different paces,” said Rehn, whose country has always supported enlargement and political integration. ”The point is that EU accession is the perspective for Turkey to continue the reforms. Europe needs a stable, democratic and prosperous Turkey that will adopt our values and the rule of law. It is in our own strategic interests.”
As for granting Turkey a privileged or special partnership, Rehn said it already existed. ”There is a customs union for trade and economy,” he said. ”The political dialogue is deepening. Turkey is part of the EU’s crisis management operations in the Balkans. In other words, some would say this already represents a privileged partnership.”
Rehn’s public warnings to Bulgaria and Romania represented a grim reflection of the two strands of skepticism running through many of the 25 EU member states, particularly after the rejection of the EU constitution by France and the Netherlands last month. One strand is directed against more integration, coupled with increasing criticism over the way the commission, as the EU’s executive arm, interferes too much in policy making. The other strand is the growing skepticism toward any future expansion, particularly into Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and the western Balkans, which includes the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Rehn said the recent enlargement in which the EU expanded from 15 to 25 countries and any future ones demanded higher standards. ”European enlargement has been stretched to its limits,” Rehn said. ”There is a need to be very cautious about our new commitments but at the same time stick to our current commitments. Bulgaria and Romania can join the EU in 2007 if they fulfill the conditions.” This is why the issues of corruption and the weak rule of law in Bulgaria and Romania had to be ”addressed to reassure the public,” Rehn said. ”This is where conditionality is important,” he added. ”Corruption is a most problematic issue, whether it be in the Western Balkans or Eastern Balkans. We still have problems with corruption and reform of the judiciary in Bulgaria and Romania. So let’s focus less on commitment and more on delivery.”
Bulgaria and Romania are still hoping to join the EU in 2007, a date agreed on by the 25 member states during their summit last December in Brussels. Five months later, both countries signed the accession treaties even though the commission still had reservations about the pace of reforms in both countries as well as their ability to implement their reforms by 2007. In the past, the commission but particularly the member states that actually make the final decision over whether a country is ready to join or not, often turned a blind eye to issues related to implementation of laws, combating corruption and even the way the structural or regional funds allocated to poor regions were spent. Rehn insisted the commission would issue a monitoring report on both countries next October. Then, either in March or April, it will issue a final decision over whether either was ready to join by 2007, he said.
20% Favor Socialist Leader
Socialist leader Sergey Stanishev enjoys the support of 20% of the Bulgarians for becoming the country’s next prime minister.Stanishev has been backed by 20% of the people, who participated in the Barometer Info survey. The data announced by Lyubomir Stoev also showed that the outgoing Prime Minister Simeon Saxe- Coburg has the support of 10% of the people.
The leader of the election surprise nationalist coalition Attack (Ataka) Volen Siderov has been favored for prime minister by 6%, whereas former prime minister and leader of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria Ivan Kostov garnered 5%.The majority of the participants, 45%, pointed other political leaders as most appropriate for the prime minister’s post. The survey was executed June 29 to July 1 and was participated by 510 Sofa citizens.
Government by Socialists
“The formula on the next Bulgarian government is already clear, a local news source said Saturday. The Cross website said that the Socialists Party and Turks-dominated Movement for Rights and Freedoms would claim state power. Cross, a source believed to be close to the socialists, said that Sergey Stanishev would certainly be prime minister. The agency cited “”sources close to the process of coalition talks.””
Members of the Simeon II National Movement will be included in the government. However, the former King’s party will not be part of the ruling coalition, the reports said. The agency did not specify whether its sources are members of the Socialist Party or not. Meanwhile, negotiations between the separate parties continued on Saturday, when the SP met right-wing coalition Bulgarian National Union (BNU). The two sides indicated that they were unlikely to coalesce.”
Early Elections by the Fall
The New Time political party is urging for early elections that should take place in the autumn. At a special press conference the party leader Emil Koshlukov pointed out that early elections would be necessary having in mind the situation in the country. Koshlukov also expressed hopes that Simeon Saxe-Coburg will keep up his promise and will not form a coalition with the socialist Coalition for Bulgaria. He said that the early elections will not affect Bulgaria’s EU entry.
The New Time political party will stay out of the 40th Bulgarian National Assembly as the “”hedgehogs”” of the Bulgarian politics couldn’t garner the needed support of at least 4% of the voters. The New Timers received some 3,4% of the votes, thus remaining out the next Parliament.”
Bulgarian Elections 2005: Bulgarian Socialists Claim Victory
SOFIA, Bulgaria (Reuters)
Bulgaria’s opposition Socialists claimed victory over the ruling centrists in Saturday’s elections, but exit polls suggested they may struggle to form a government. Any protracted coalition wrangling between parties could unsettle investors seeking quick economic and social reforms to secure EU entry in 2007 and increase impatience in a general population over poor living standards.
A Gallup exit poll for BTV television gave the ex-communists 32.2 percent of the vote versus 20.5 percent for ex-King Simeon Saxe-Coburg’s ruling National Movement for Simeon II (NMS). Earlier opinion polls had given the Socialists 40 percent, a vote that would have allowed them to form a government quickly. “We have won the elections,” said Socialist deputy leader Rumen Petkov. “But the results are not satisfactory.”
Three other local polling agencies put the Socialists, led by progressive Sergei Stanishev at 30.7-32.1 percent and the NMS at 19.5-21.1 percent. The next government must complete a mountain of difficult reforms under increased scrutiny from Brussels as skepticism over further EU expansion grows after recent French and Dutch rejections of the bloc’s constitution. Although investors have praised Saxe-Coburg’s government as the best since the fall of communism, public discontent over poverty and crime forced the only ex-monarch to second place.
Nationalists rise
Analysts say the surprise emergence of the nationalist Attack party, seen winning 7-7.9 percent and crossing the threshold to parliament, may have undermined them. “The result for Attack is a surpise and has eroded support for the Socialists,” said Kancho Stoichev, an analyst with Gallup. Analysts said the Socialists are expected to seek a coalition with the mostly ethnic-Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) — Saxe-Coburg’s current ruling partner — and deputies from other parties.
“A left-center coalition is more likely,” MRF leader Ahmed Dogan said, apparently throwing his support behind the leftists. The Socialists have not ruled out seeking a grand coalition including the ruling centrists. Saxe-Coburg has made clear he will not join a grouping he does not lead but his party may find another role for him, such as the presidency, or some of his deputies may defect. The Socialists have been eager to show they have changed since they were ousted in 1997 after plunging the country into economic disaster. But despite vowing economic prudence and reforms crucial for EU accession — such as revamping a lumbering judiciary — the Socialists’ plans for more social spending are a bigger risk for the economy, analysts say.
Banished in 1947 at the age of nine by the communists, the former boy-king returned to win a landslide election victory in 2001. He led Bulgaria into NATO and to the threshold of the EU, boosted economic growth to 6 percent and cut unemployment. Despite his achievements, failure to deliver on brash 2001 pledges to make all Bulgarians wealthy in 800 days has angered voters. Bulgaria’s 2004 per capita GDP of 2,498 euros makes it second only to Turkey as the poorest EU member or candidate.
There are many Bulgarians still queuing outside the polling stations in the country despite the official end of the election day, Biser Troyanov, spokesman of the Central Elections Committee. He also pointed out that currently CEC is trying to connect all the regional Elections committees to explore the situation.
At 8 pm the preliminary results were announced with socialist Coalition for Bulgaria garnering 33,7% of the votes, followed by Simeon II National Movement (SIINM) with 21.1% and Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) – 11.9%. This year’s surprise came from the nationalistic coalition Attack (Ataka), which gathered nearly 9% of the votes.
UDF Leader: We’ll Seek Right-Centre Coalition
We will seek a right-centre coalition in the cabinet to be formed, Nadezhda Mihaylova, leader of United Democratic Forces, said as early exit poll results were announced on the night of June 25.
The right-wing party is among the favorites for entering the 40th parliament of Bulgaria in a close-up margin with the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria of former Prime Minister Ivan Kostov. Nadezhda Mihaylova told Sofia News Agency that the Bulgarian Socialist Party will obviously be unable to form a government of its own and her party will focus on coalescing with other parties of the right and the centre political spectrum. In response to a question whether this desired coalition might involve the party of Ivan Kostov, she said that talks are just to come ahead. Mihaylova stressed also on the “positive fact” that the right-wing election racers have earned totally more votes that the party of Simeon II National Movement.
King’s Party Doesn’t Rule Out New Coalition
The king’s party Simeon II National Movement (SIINM) has not been defeated, Deputy Prime and Transport Minister Nikolay Vassilev said not ruling out the possibility of the forming of a new ruling coalition. The current government was formed by a coalition and if we sum up the percents of the three partners in the coalition the result will equal that of Coalition for Bulgaria, Vassilev pointed out. Vassilev, however, declined to comment on the future coalition members.
Nationalists Turn Fourth Biggest Parliamentary Power
The nationalist coalition Attack, the fist to gain seats in Bulgaria’s Parliament, ranks fourth among election racers, show results after fifty percent of the votes were processed. The Attack (Ataka) coalition, which has been described as a phenomenon and sprang the biggest surprise in the elections, collects 8.9% of the votes.”
Bulgaria Worries about EU Entry
By Nicholas Wood, International Herald Tribune
Bulgaria is to hold parliamentary elections Saturday, with its voters keenly aware that whatever government they elect, their chances of joining the European Union in the near future have become more remote. All of the mainstream political parties competing in the election are unified in their aim of achieving European Union membership by Jan. 1, 2007, as scheduled in negotiations. But comments made by leading European politicians suggesting that enlargement of the 25-member bloc should be slowed in the wake of French and Dutch votes rejecting the European constitution have sent shudders through the political elite.
Many now fear Bulgaria’s membership may be delayed by a year or more. Opinion polls predict that the country’s former communists, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, will win the largest number of seats and oust the former King of Bulgaria, Simeon Saxecoburggotski, who has led the government for the last four years.
The suggestion that enlargement could be delayed has intensified claims among parties that they are most capable of implementing the reforms needed to obtain membership on time. The EU enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn, recently warned Bulgaria and Romania that unless they accelerated the pace of reforms they risked seeing their applications set back by a year.
Politicians here said there was a genuine commitment to completing reforms – in such areas as the judicial system and the prosecution of organized crime – but they also say that the EU has moved the goal posts. Senior politicians here appear bitter that, having asked Bulgaria and other East European states to implement difficult political and economic reforms, West European countries are not willing to do the same themselves – most notably in the area of farm subsidies – and are instead blaming enlargement for their problems.
“Every country should be judged according to its accomplishments,” said Sergei Stanishev, leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, who is tipped to be the country’s next prime minister. “It wouldn’t be fair for the Bulgaria to pay the price of the internal problems of the European Union,” he said in an interview at the party’s last election rally held Thursday night in Sofia.
Were membership to be delayed, the majority of politicians and analysts here say it would have a destabilizing effect in the country. Throughout the past 15 years, many Bulgarians have endured economic hardship as state run businesses have been closed down, people laid off, and price controls abolished in favor of an open market. While Bulgaria has seen strong economic growth (5.4 percent last year), and unemployment levels have dropped from to 13 percent from 18 percent during the last four years, many people appear frustrated about the pace of change, and concerned also that the country is not getting the best deal possible from the EU.
“It’s hard to make ends meet with the money we earn, but I’m not hoping for anything good when we join,” said Maria Nikolova, a 50-year-old stall holder in Sofia’s Zenski Pazar, or Ladies’ Market. Bulgarians earn, on average, 230 lev, or about $142, a month. Another stall holder, Constantin Nikolov, 51, said he believed the EU would at least curb corruption among Bulgarian politicians.
Hostility toward Europe, has emerged on the fringes of an otherwise overtly pro-European election campaign. Senior members of Stanishev’s party have called for the renegotiation of an agreement to shut down two nuclear reactors in a Soviet-built power station. Polls show that many Bulgarian believe the closure will lead to higher electricity prices, or to power cuts. “If Bulgaria’s membership is delayed this question will be put again,” said Rumen Ovcharov, a former energy minister and Socialist member of Parliament.
The rise of Ataka, an ultranationalist party formed just two months ago, is seen by diplomats and mainstream parties as one of greatest causes for concern in Bulgaria’s EU relations. Ataka, which has campaigned with the slogan “Bulgaria for the Bulgarians” and is predicted to win as much as 7 percent of the vote, is suggesting that Bulgaria should withdraw from NATO, and opposes EU membership. Its leader, Volen Siderov, blames the country’s Roma and Turkish minorities for crime and corruption in the country. By delaying membership, mainstream Bulgarian politicians and analysts argue that animosity toward the EU will grow and the momentum for reform would be undermined.
According to Ovcharov: “If the EU tells us you will now have to wait, people will ask why and what do we have to wait for.” “The reality,” said Antoaneta Primatarova, a former deputy foreign minister and the ex-Bulgarian ambassador to the EU, “is that the EU will have to reform.” And, she added, “it will be as painful as was for former communist states.”
Elections in Bulgaria
Bulgaria’s parliamentary elections are due in June 25, 2005. The basic power in the Parliamentary Republic is the legislative one, exercised by the Parliament (The National Assembly). It is unicameral and consists of 240 members, elected directly by the voters for a four-year term, on the basis of the proportional representation. For the parties and the pre-election coalitions to enter the National Assembly, they must collect at least 4% of the total number of votes at the elections.
Currently the ruling party Simeon II National Movement has the largest grouping in the assembly, followed by the Coalition for Bulgaria, led by the Bulgarian Socialist Party. The United Democratic Forces, comprising MPs who left the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) early in 2004 to found Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria, comes third; the predominantly ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms follows next. These outnumber the UDF and the New Time group, the parliamentary group of the agrarian People’s Union and the Democratic Party, and the independent MPs.
Our Ministry in the Yambol Region
