Master’s of Chaplaincy Ministry Program in Bulgaria Renewed

Master’s of Chaplaincy Ministry Program in Bulgaria Renewed (2010-2023)

We are proud to announce that the Master’s of Chaplaincy Ministry Program, we designed and launched in Bulgaria in 2006, has been selected to be part of the Social Service Program of New Bulgarian University. After being for years a valuable part of the regular curriculum of the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute and the St. Trivelius Institute in the capital Sofia, the chaplaincy program has received the highest level of recognition as successful graduates will be finally able to receive government recognized degrees and apply their knowledge and training in chaplaincy on a professional level. The chaplaincy program can also serve within the Integration Proposal of local NATO programs and be instrumental in dealing with the enormous wave of Middle East migrants crossing through Bulgaria today.

Although the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association emerges from and ministers within the Bulgarian cultural context, it is designed for integral cooperation with organizations of various origins. This advantage comes from the experience of previous working relationships that the organizations represented within the Association have had with other non-Bulgarian organizations. The vision, structure and operation of the Association incorporate and comply with western styles of chaplaincy work on three levels (1) cultural, (2) educational and (3) governmental.

The cultural heritage of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association represents a valuable environment for integration of NATO forces within the local cultural setting. On a cultural level, various events and activities such as English speaking church services, fellowship of soldiers with local communities, hospitals, orphanages and other cultural experiences are available. Humanitarian aid projects are among the most efficient manner for integration within the local community.

On an educational level, there are possibilities on both sides. For example, Bulgarian language courses for the soldiers and English language courses for the local community could be implemented. The most important element within the education strategy perhaps may be education of chaplaincy workers, especially in the current context when Bulgaria is in a need of trained crisis counselors for cases of floods and other natural disasters. Finally, local and national government relations will assist in the change of the status of chaplaincy within the Bulgarian Army. Such an approach will have positive political implications, as chaplaincy becomes a mediator between the army, church and government.

The presented proposal integrates religious moral issues along with socio-political principles in the idea for chaplaincy within the Bulgarian Army. The implications of these principles project involvement of local NATO units in partnership with local Bulgarian organizations. In the case of chaplaincy within the Bulgarian Army, the proposed organization is the newly established Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association. Although political, social and economical issues remain in the scope of its work, the Association’s main priority is the renewal of spirituality within the army structure through cutting-edge chaplaincy ministry beyond the ecclesial gates into a world of war and insecurity. The Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association acts as an agent of spiritual restoration targeting morality within the Bulgarian Army with the Bulgarian chaplain as the key element in this process. For an army without spirituality is no army at all.

Chronology of Events:

2018 The Road toward a Balkan Multi-Ministry Center and Legal Status

2017 Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association: Legal Case Renewed

2015 Revisting the Integration Proposal with Local NATO Programs by Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association

2014 Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association: Vision and Resolution Reaffirmed

2012 First Class of the Master’s of Chaplaincy Ministry Program

2011 Master’s of Chaplaincy Ministry Program Continues

2010 Master’s of Chaplaincy Ministry Program begins in Sofia, Bulgaria

2009 Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association holds an introductory chaplaincy course in Yambol, Bulgaria

2008 The Case of a NATO Chaplaincy Model within the Bulgarian Army released

2007 Bulgarian Chaplaincy Associations Recognized by U.S. Department of State

2006 Registration for the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association Rejected by Bulgarian Court

2005 The Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association presented before the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance

2004 Three U.S. Bases in Bulgaria to be Built by 2010

2003 The Case of a NATO Chaplaincy Model within the Bulgarian Army

2002 First Balkan Chaplaincy Conference at the Central Church of God in Sofia, Bulgaria

2001 Church of God Chaplaincy Commission to visit Bulgaria

2000 Euro-seminar: Christian ethics in the military forces

1997 First Military Ministry Seminar in Veliko Tarnovo

The fall of the Berlin Wall introduced a new reality that Bulgaria was not prepared to embrace. The end of Communism was unable to tear down the communist mentality. Today, an entire Bulgarian generation lives with the scars inflicted by their experience under years of the Communist Regime, while another generation lives with an immense historical gap that has formed a new political, social, economical and cultural reality.

Three points are worth noting about Bulgaria’s Postcommunist context. First, in the beginning of the 21^st century Bulgaria is left with armed forces, which were organized and influenced by the Soviet model and still act accordingly. The bureaucratic infrastructure disallows and discourages any changes apart from carefully chosen decisions that keep the army’s activities to the minimum possible. The two main factors needed for any change to occur, namely decision-making processes and chain of command, still operate under an Eastern Soviet paradigm.

Second, atheistic morale has gained the status of a positive military qualification in the Bulgarian military. This may sound familiar for any given army; however, in most cases it replaces a religious attitude with an atheistic one. In the Postcommunist context, atheistic beliefs pervade and even when a soldier experiences a genuine need for spirituality, in most cases s/he has no religious root to which to return. This lack of alternative or spiritual choice results in a pessimistic morale, intensified by the required mandatory military services.

Third, a Postcommunist mentality with definite Balkan characteristics rules not only the army but also the country as a whole. The economical, political and cultural crises have remained an undividable part of Bulgaria’s reality in the past 16 years. There, Postcommunist mentality holds captive every progressive thought and idea.

It is natural to conclude that the active solider within the Bulgarian Armed Forces is left without much choice when it comes to his/her personal and spiritual development. A positive career development is possible only when pressed by the economical factors one accepts to be part of a highly inactive bureaucratic machine. On the other hand, any attempt for spiritual growth is constrained and receives little privilege to become fully expressed. Naturally, such dynamics decrease one’s motivation for further development due to the lack of morale emerging from a personal spirituality. And because an army without a spirit is no army at all, the current condition of the Bulgarian Army is in much need of revival.

Also important [click to read]:

• U.S. Department of State recognizes our chaplaincy efforts in Bulgaria
• Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association: Integration Proposal with Local NATO Programs
• Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association: Vision and Resolution
• Chronology of our role and involvement in developing Church of God chaplaincy in Bulgaria since 2001
• Master’s of Chaplaincy Ministry Program in Bulgaria Reflections
• The Past Decade of Chaplaincy in Bulgaria (2006-2016)
• Related Publications and Presentations by Cup & Cross Ministries International

Reflection on on U.S. Department of State recognizing  the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Associations

Reflection on on U.S. Department of State recognizing  the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Associations

BREAKING NEWS [October 8, 2007]
Original source archive: U.S. Department of State:

https://web.archive.org/web/20080709061910/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90168.htm

For immediate release: Bulgarian Chaplaincy Associations Recognized by U.S. Department of State

U.S. Department of State has released its annual International Religious Freedom Report for 2007. In the section about Bulgaria, the work of Cup & Cross Ministries has been noted through the recognition of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association.

Cup & Cross Ministries has worked toward the establishment of the Bulgarian chaplaincy Association since the year 2000. After five years of training chaplains, strategic professional placement and providing ministry in all respective areas of chaplaincy, in 2005 we began the process of registration with the Bulgarian government. This process was both difficult and a long test of our endurance. Although we were not openly denied registration under the 2002 Religious Act, various courts throughout Bulgaria hesitated and delayed our legal registration. Our ministry activities were closely watched and members of our staff were called in for interrogation on various occasions. After resorting to international human rights and religious freedom organizations, finally on February 23, 2007 the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association received registration by the Sofia Municipality Court to become the first legal chaplaincy organization in Bulgaria officially recognized by the Bulgarian government. The current U.S. Department of State report overviews the above process. The direct quote of the report follows:

International Religious Freedom Report 2007
Released on September 14, 2007
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90168.htm

Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
Improvements and Positive Developments in Respect for Religious Freedom

Some religious denominations reported that the Religious Confessions Directorate had become more active in assuring that national and local authorities respect and promoted religious freedom and that the national government was more receptive to their concerns. For example, a Protestant group, the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association, gained legal status on February 23, 2007. The association represents approximately 120 Protestant pastors and individuals mainly affiliated with the Church of God and Assemblies of God but also includes Baptists and Lutherans.

Almost three decades ago, we established the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association with a vision for ministry in the Bulgarian army, Ministry of Internal Affairs, jail and prison systems, Bulgarian seaports and airports, and the healthcare system. Out of these five goals set before us in 2006 we have fulfilled them all:

1. Tolerant and equal representations of all confessions in the chaplaincy ministry
2. The implementation of a contextualized chaplaincy model
3. The integration of chaplaincy education in all Bulgarian theological higher educational institutions
4. And the educational and consultant work on government and church levels

except:

5. The establishment of legal grounds for regular paid chaplaincy service in the Bulgarian army, Ministry of Internal Affairs, jail and prison systems, Bulgarian seaports and airports, and the healthcare system.

After designing and teaching the Masters of Chaplaincy Ministry program in two major evangelical universities in Bulgaria, we now have some of our trained chaplains working in jails, prisons, healthcare, civil emergency services and the corporate/political level. The legal system in Bulgaria, however, is yet to provide the proper measure for restoring chaplaincy in Bulgaria’s armed forces. To this final step fulfillment we pledge out support in 2016.

Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association: Vision and Resolution

Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association
Resolution No. 1

We,

The founding members of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association in its first national assembly today August 19, 2006 in hotel Diana Palace, Yambol

In regard of:
1. Bulgaria’s membership in NATO and its upcoming integration in the European Union
2. The transformations within the Bulgarian Army from mandatory toward standard paid service and the participation of Bulgarian contingent in NATO and UN missions
3. Contract agreement for NATO airbases on Bulgarian territory
4. The strategic renewal of chaplaincy ministry in the Bulgarian army
5. And the present need of chaplaincy ministry integrated in the Bulgarian army, Ministry of Internal Affairs, jail and prison systems, Bulgarian seaports and airports, and the healthcare system,

Declare our support toward:
1. The establishment of legal grounds for regular paid chaplaincy service in the Bulgarian army, Ministry of Internal Affairs, jail and prison systems, Bulgarian seaports and airports, and the healthcare system
2. Tolerant and equal representations of all confessions in the chaplaincy ministry
3. The implementation of a contextualized chaplaincy model
4. The integration of chaplaincy education in all Bulgarian theological higher educational institutions
5. And the educational and consultant work on government and church levels.

We, the founding members of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association will work toward the renewal, popularization and equal religious representation of chaplaincy ministry in all professional areas.

August 19, 2006
Diana Palace, Yambol

 

NEEMIAH at the second oldest church in Polk County

Since our Revival Harvest Campaign with the theme of Nehemiah Experience began, we have been receiving miracles reports:

• a lady seeking for the Holy Spirit for some time now, was baptized late at night after the service and began speaking in tongues while on her bed
• heavy anointing to the point of people blacking out
• a truck driver came from the street to seek God
• a spontaneous Jericho march broke out with dramatic spiritual manifestation
• right arm hurt in a car accident many years ago, began feeling sensation in muscles and ligaments again during the service
• a clear direction was given by the Holy Ghost to remain faithful to the vision

Cookson Creek Baptist Church was established in 1836 and currently stands as the 2nd oldest continued church in Polk County. While the foundation and parts of the building are originals, the church has undergone many renovations throughout the years – one of the more recent being the stone, silo-shaped teenage Sunday School classroom. The church sits alongside the beautiful creek, after which it was named, and just down the road from Cookson Creek Cemetery.

The following accounts are recorded by Lynne McClary from the Polk County Chamber of Commerce.

The year was 1936 and Cookson Creek Baptist Church was celebrating it’s 100th anniversary in Polk County, Tennessee. N. B. Fetzer attended the festivities and later wrote about it from his Nashville home.

According to his writings, “There was an immense crowd . . . many of my relatives and old friends, but I missed many faces which used to show up there on May’s Fourth Sunday.” Thomas W. Mathis had been scheduled to give a historical review of the church, as his membership dated back some 70 years. Unfortunately, “Uncle Tommy was called to his heavenly home” on Wednesday prior to the celebration.

Fetzer’s note goes on to state that Miss Mae Ella Stinnett, who served as church clerk, was the ‘power behind the throne,’ and the highlight of the day came when a 3-1/2-year-old young man, the son of Tom Green, sang several stanzas to a “catchy mountain tune”. Fetzer could not remember the youngster’s name, but was told by an uncle that everyone called him ‘Tooter’.

This year Cookson Creek celebrates year 187. The building has undergone many renovations through the years; however the foundation, as well as some of the building itself, dates back to the construction in 1836! It sits alongside the creek for which it is named and just down the road from Cookson Creek Cemetery. The creek was named for Joseph Cookson, a white man who married Jennie Hildebrand. Jennie, who was half-Cherokee, was the daughter of Michael Hildabrand. Joseph and Jennie were moved to Oklahoma during the Cherokee removal of 1838 and lived their remaining lives on the reservation.

TAGS: Blue Springs Church, Beech Springs Church, Little Hopewell Church, Cookson Creek Church, Candies Creek Church, Good Spring Church

HISTORIC SITES OF POLK COUNTY
• Ocoee Indian Village, Hatcher farm. (Early Woodland, Yuchi, and Cherokee
Indians).
• Old Fort Block house, Benton, constructed 1805-1806.
• The Hildebrand House, Ocoee River, early 1830s; oldest house in the county.
• Friendship Baptist Church, First District, 1826, the oldest church in Polk County in
continuous operation. The Columbiana Presbyterian Church was organized in 1822
near Columbus and operated for about twenty years.
• Hiwassee Old Town, oldest and largest of the Cherokee villages in Polk County, was
located on the north bank of the Hiwassee River.
• Site of the discovery of copper on Potato Creek, 1843.
• James McNair family graves, Conasauga.
• Ducktown Basin Museum, Ducktown.
• Old Federal Road, 1804; the Old Stock Road; the Old Copper Road, 1853.
• The Savannah Farm, the largest and one of the oldest farms of the county.
• Columbus, north bank of the Hiwassee River, temporary county seat of Polk County;
had a post office by 1823 and was incorporated.
• Present day site of the Benton Department Store was site of the first home in Benton
(Four Mile Stock Stand); the home of James Lindner and his Cherokee wife, a
descendant of Nancy Ward.
• The Jacob Clemmer house at Benton was built in 1842 and is now owned by Mr. and
Mrs. Kenneth Bishop.
• The Nuchols home and office, (present site of The Drug Store), was built in 1868 and
was occupied in succession by Dr. J. D. Nuchols, Dr. J. G. C. Garner, and Dr. Joseph
E. Hutchins.
• Benton’s first hotel was on the site of Matt Witt’s Store, having been moved from
Columbus in 1840. It was operated by Commodore White, J. Q. A. Lewis, William
Higgins, and last by J. L. and Ben McClary.
• Maggie’s Mill located near Springtown, erroneously believed by some to have
inspired the song “When You and I Were Young, Maggie.” (Original site is in
Canada.)
• Great Indian War Path crossed the river at Hiwassee Old Town and continued
southward to Bridgeport, Alabama.
• The Cookson’s Creek Baptist Church is the second oldest church in the county, with
the Ocoee Baptist Church, Benton, third.

MISSIONS at the oldest church in Polk County

 

Friendship Baptist Church located in present-day Delano is Polk County’s oldest church in continuous operation – 1826-2026!

The following accounts are recorded by Lynne McClary from the Polk County Chamber of Commerce.

Started just 7 years after the Indian removal in the Hiwassee Cession of 1819, Friendship was near what was then known as Columbus. In June 1826, 10 men and women met in Brother Wilkerson’s home north of Coe Cemetery to organize a church. An ordination service was held July 1826 with members from Eastannallee Church.

Until December 1826, services were in the Wilkerson and Funkhouser homes. At which time a simple log church was built across the road from the present building. A cornerstone still remains of the original building. In 1819, land north of the Hiwassee was ceded to the US by the Cherokee, while the land south of the river to the GA line was not given up until 1838, meaning Friendship was established in free territory 12 years before the rest of present-day Polk County was even US Territory.

A frame church was built in 1856 north of the current building. Raised soil marks that site today. Calvin Denton pastored there 40 years, but little is known about Friendship through the Civil War due to loss of records.

In the late 1800s to early 1900s the building was used as a school until the county could build one. A box dinner was held to raise money for a bell, used for both the school and church. This bell is the only remaining item from the school and it’s located in the belfry of the current church.

The current building was built in 1908, and Friendship’s 100th year was celebrated in 1926 with an all-day singing and history from JD Clemmer. During the celebration a group of Ku Klux Klan marched out of the woods in capes and hoods, went up one aisle, out the other door, and back into the woods, after which the celebration ended.

Friendship Church is an integral part of Polk County history, and future. There’s even a time capsule packed in 1976 scheduled be opened during 2026’s Homecoming.

In 1850 William Forest was licensed to be a Baptist minister ; he was ordained by the Friendship Baptist Church in Delano , Tennessee— where his father – in – law , Samuel Short , had been the first pastor– in 1857

*Some names are missing due to lost Church records. The information below came from a booklet titled” 150 Years Of Friendship”, by Terry Blair, Wanda Carter, Johnny Coe, and Deborah Williams. The booklet was handed out to to the congregation of Friendship at the July 4th Homecoming, a celebration of the 150th year, in 1976. Thanks to Connie Baumann for supplying this information!

A BAND OF BELIEVERS on the BANKS of BARNEY CREEK

By Dallas Bogan (Reprinted with Permission. This article was published in the LaFollette Press)

While many churches in the South had already established their existence and their doctrines, an invitation went forward to those who wanted to fully establish the readings and beliefs of the Bible as it was written. With this request a small group of nine believers formed the Christian Union on the banks of Barney Creek in Monroe County, Tennessee, on August 19, 1886. Activities of this joining together on a hot scorching day in the Unicoi Mountains in eastern Tennessee are not known to any degree, but their mission was fully accomplished. R.G. Spurling was selected as pastor of the church while Richard Spurling, his father, moderated the proceedings.

The small congregation knew it was futile to “reform” their own existing churches and so decided to “form” their own church. The intent was to re-establish sound scriptual doctrines of the Bible, and to promote evangelism and Christian service.

Barney Creek still remains a small stream that flows quietly through the mountains. Livelihood in this part of the Appalachian Mountains has still much to be desired. However, early folks in this part of the mountains who sought God found the New Testament Christianity and gathered to later become the Church of God, as we know it today. At a later time the experiences of sanctification and Spirit baptism were added.

This vision of Christian unification was the spiritual desire of R.G. Spurling and his father Richard Spurling, the former being a licensed minister in the Missionary Baptist Church.

Richard Spurling was an ordained elder and began to seek God regarding the abuses he saw in the local churches around him. He was quite perterbed concerning the spiritual neglect and ill treatment he witnessed in these congregations. He was also troubled with challenging traditions and creeds that he deemed a hardship for God’s people.

Calvin, Luther and other famous reformers had brought about many changes to the church such as a “right belief” rather than a “true relationship” with Jesus Christ. These gallant reformers’ changes concentrated more-or-less on creed rather than the leading of the Holy Spirit and one’s own principles.

The focal point of R.G. Spurling was Christianity and the law of love rather than creed or doctrine, in which the latter could possibly divide Christians. He believed that the New Testament was the “only infallible rule of faith and practice” and contains everything “necessary for salvation and church government.”

Spurling was a part of the broad re-establishment that moved through the church world in the United States during the 19th century. At this time, the Christian Union, similar to other groups such as the Churches of Christ and Churches of God (Anderson, Indiana), likened to reinstate New Testament Christianity. The New Testament was given different emphasis by these groups, but all wanted to restore some part of the apostolic church. Some of these groups focused on government, some on everyday life, some on the message, but all longed to return to contemporary Christian life, an important item that had been lost in the superseding centuries. Spurling saw in some teachings that a coarseness and individuality subdued the Gospel and led to dividing the body of Christ more so than to Christian unity.

A.J. Tomlinson, a friend of R.G. Spurling’s, wrote that Spurling preached whenever and wherever he had an opportunity. Tomlinson wrote that Spurling “in this way the minds of the people were continually agitated, and gradually prepared for the work of the Spirit that was to follow. For ten years this servant of God prayed, wept and continued his ministry against much opposition and under peculiar difficulties, before seeing much fruits of his labor.”

Benjamin Hardin Irwin acquired a more intense tactic to the Christian life and taught a “third blessing” called “the fire.” He structured, in Iowa, in 1895, the Fire-Baptized Holiness Associations, which later extended around the United States. During the next year he preached in South Carolina and Georgia. He had, by 1898, organized an international Fire-Baptized Holiness Association in Anderson, South Carolina, and during this time he had published a periodical called “Live Coals of Fire.” His message was heard and accepted in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina where Spurling was ministering.

In 1896, persuaded by Irwin’s movement, four men began a revival in the Shearer Schoolhouse near Camp Creek in Cherokee County, North Carolina. William Martin, a Methodist, along with Baptists Joe. M. Tipton, Elias Milton McNabb, and William Hanby, preached a ten-day meeting that attracted much attention to the area. Tomlinson states that “they preached a clean gospel, and urged the people to seek and obtain sanctification subsequent to justification. They prayed, fasted and wept before the Lord until a great revival was the result.”

Twenty-one years after that infamous meeting at Barney Creek, and the formation of the Christian Union, the ever-growing movement would establish themselves as the Church of God. The beckoning call of the original Barney Creek meeting has now established a worldwide membership of over 5 million in more than 145 countries.

Reports of Church of God revivals find that hundreds are getting saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, more so now that at any other time. World evangelism is the call of the Church of God through descipleship and prayer, as well as committment.

Bulgaria gets new government

Bulgaria gets new government as former rivals enter uneasy alliance

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s parliament on Tuesday formally approved the country’s new government proposed by the two main political rivals in a bid to end a 30-months-long political crisis, restore stability and spur economic development in the poorest EU member country.

The GERB party of ex-Premier Boyko Borissov, which won the April general election, and the runner-up, the pro-European liberal coalition “We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria” have agreed to form the first-ever Bulgarian government where the post of prime minister will change hands halfway through.

Lawmakers voted 132-69 to elect Nikolay Denkov, a 60-year-old chemistry professor and former education minister, as prime minister. Denkov is a founding member of the reformist “We Continue the Change” party.

In a separate vote, legislators also approved the Cabinet, in which GERB’s Maria Gabriel, a former European Commissioner, will serve as deputy head of government and foreign minister. After nine months, Denkov and Gabriel will switch positions for the rest of the term.

The 300 CHURCH

160,000 Pentecostals in Bulgaria Reported by the NEW Encyclopedia of Global Pentecostalism

25 Years ago, I left D.C. and Never Looked Back…

5th postpandemic elections in Bulgaria for an expert-government

• exPM Borissov wins (26.51%) once again with a mere 1.5% lead
• CHANGE political formation follows closely with 24.54%
• None have enough to form a majority government and will be forced to seek political coalition
• Merely 1/3 of Bulgaria’s population voted, tired of now 5 consecutive elections since 2021 without a wining ruling party or actual government formed as following:
  • 2021 April National Parliament election
  • 2021 Second National Parliament election
  • 2021 Third National Parliament and Presidential elections
  • 2022 October elections for 48th National Assembly after the fall of a four-party coalition in June 2022.
  • 2023 Fifth National Parliament elections

CEC data as of 5:55 p.m. with 100% of sectional protocols processed in the Regional Election Commissions show that six political formations will enter the 49th National Assembly: GERB – SDS, WCC-DB, “Vazrazhdane”, DPS, BSP and ” There Is Such a People”.

GERB – SDS have 26.51%, or with a 1.93% lead over WCC-DP, which received 24.54% of the votes. The difference between the two leading coalitions is 49,769 votes.

The GERB-SDS coalition improved its result and received 34,734 votes more than in October last year. Now there are 669,361 people who voted for them.

Nearly 2 percent lag behind the first and second according to the results are “We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria” (WCC-DB). They gathered the support of 619,592 voters, but compared to October last year, a drop of nearly 74,000 votes was reported, as the two formations then gathered the total support of 692,000 voters. If we add the percentages of the two formations from October, they are 27.6 percent, but already as a coalition they achieve a 3 percent lower result.

The third political force in yesterday’s elections is the “Vazrazhdane” (Revival) party with 14.15%, followed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) with 13.72% and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) – with 8.94%.

“There Is Such a People” (TISP) also entered the new parliament, with the party receiving 4.11% of the vote. The trend of the “Vazrazhdane” party, which from the fourth to the third political force, is upward. Now, compared to October, it adds another 102,000 votes to its result, with 357,167 people voting for the formation yesterday.

The results for DPS, compared now and from last year, mark a drop of almost 2 thousand, and the party from third is now fourth. In October, more than 344,000 people voted for DPS, and 346,437 did so a day ago.

For BSP – fifth in terms of results, the support is also falling – from 233 thousand in October to 225 thousand now, which is minus 7 thousand votes.

103,641 voters voted for the sixth formation, which with a high degree of probability falls into the 49th National Assembly – “There Is Such a People”, and in the previous elections, when Trifonov’s party failed to cross the 4 percent barrier, the support was 96 thousand.

The “Bulgarian Rise” party – had 3.08% and the coalition “Levitsata!” (The Left) remain below the 4 percent barrier. – with 2.24%.

Central Election Commission data with processed 100% protocols in the Regional Election Committees of the country

34 Years after Communism…

34 years in 60 seconds at the red-light…

I’m driving slowly in the dark and raining streets of my home town passing through clouds of car smoke. The gypsy ghetto in the outskirts of town is covered with the fog of fires made out of old tires burning in the yards. And the loud music adds that grotesque and gothic nuance to the whole picture with poorly clothed children dancing around the burnings.

The first red light stops me at the entrance to the “more civilized” part of the city. The bright counter right next to it slowly moves through the long 60 seconds while tiredly walking people pass through the intersection to go home and escape the cold rain. The street ahead of me is already covered with dirt and thickening layer of sleet.

This is how I remember Bulgaria of my youth and it seems like nothing has changed in the past 25 years.

The newly elected government just announced its coalition cabinet – next to a dozen like it that had failed in the past two decades. The gas price is holding firmly at $6/gal. and the price of electricity just increased by 10%, while the harsh winter is already knocking at the doors of poor Bulgarian households. A major bank is in collapse threatening to take down the national banking system and create a new crisis much like in Greece. These are the same factors that caused Bulgaria’s major inflation in 1993 and then hyperinflation in 1996-97.

What’s next? Another winter and again a hard one!

Ex-secret police agents are in all three of the coalition parties forming the current government. The ultra nationalistic party called “ATTACK” and the Muslim ethnic minorities party DPS are out for now, but awaiting their move as opposition in the future parliament. At the same time, the new-old prime minister (now in his second term) is already calling for yet another early parliamentarian election in the summer. This is only months after the previous elections in October, 2014 and two years after the ones before them on May 2013.

Every Bulgarian government in the past 25 years has focused on two rather mechanical goals: cardinal socio-economical reforms and battle against communism. The latter is simply unachievable without deep reformative change within the Bulgarian post-communist mentality. The purpose of any reform should be to do exactly that. Instead, what is always changing is the outwardness of the country. The change is only mechanical, but never organic within the country’s heart.

Bulgaria’s mechanical reforms in the past quarter of a century have proven to be only conditional, but never improving the conditions of living. The wellbeing of the individual and the pursuit of happiness, thou much spoken about, are never reached for they never start with the desire to change within the person. For this reason, millions of Bulgarians and their children today work abroad, pursuing another life for another generation.

The stop light in front of me turns green bidding the question where to go next. Every Bulgarian today must make a choice! Or we’ll be still here at the red light in another 25 years from now…

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