CEU eTD Collection In partial fulfillmentof the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts HOW EUROPEANISBULGARIA? The Case of Party System and Politics Supervisor: Professor Anton Pelinka Department of Political Science Political of Department Central European University Central European Isabella Manassarian Isabella Budapest, Hungary Budapest, Submitted to Submitted 2007 By CEU eTD Collection electoral systems, party-based Euroscepticism, ethnic politics, right-wing extremism right-wing politics, ethnic Euroscepticism, party-based systems, electoral Keywords two. of the features the ‘Western’, while others truly ‘Eastern’ perspectives, typically demonstrating some with yet others Europeanization, proved of level to their haveof in terms thetrends mixture different of to the other four variables, With regards displayed‘Westernization’. Bulgaria has systems, of of electoral nature the the one could notice that isthe very unique. It is neither fully various‘Europeanized’, nor is it typically ‘Eastern’. Only in the case Bulgaria of aspects case the overall that revealed has chosen variables of the of each of each examination An of them show issue. answer complexity is The the not. continuum the provided a ‘more-or-less’ of on due to or camp i.e. ‘Western’, Europeanized fallinto the does and politics party system Bulgarian the one hand and WesternEurope each on that isof to of comparedthose regards to inBulgariawith situation CEE on the other. The in politics. party of ‘extreme trends’ existence and 5.the of nature ethnic politics, The basic in2. voterturnouts national parliamentary 3.party-basedelections, the Euroscepticism, 4. research questionIt wasdone by fiveanalyzing variables: 1. different naturethe of electoral the system itself, of thisThe aim of thesisthis depict is to the level Europeanization of Bulgarianthe of party politics. thesis is if the : Europeanization, Westernization, Bulgarian party politics, voter turnouts, voter Bulgarian party politics, Westernization, : Europeanization, Abstract i CEU eTD Collection useful useful feedback. as hisprocess, ofthehighly chapters forallthe well patience in thesis, and his as reading forAnton Pelinka, the he help, and support offered guidance, during entire the research thesis. And of the aspects in me comparative the feedback time on he last,for the took giving Cristian Cercel but not helpedleast, I wantme discussions Bulgarian in students hadelaborate topic onthe andwho CEU with whom I into expressvarious myDavid utmosttranslations gratitude his as patiencemein inhelping thequantitative code model My used thisthesis. to thanks extend well as Ridout drafts, my on comments critical and toconstructive his for mythat Littvay Levente Dr. supervisor,to werefor used personalthe interviews, helpedDr.organizing helping merealizethe ideasin behind Iam this project. deeply indebted assistance their as well as in comments, and advice thisTheir writing. and researching thesis. me myI am supportduringforemost, theirmoral process First for and the grateful of parents to polishI would like theto also rough thank draft of the thesis. I am grateful to the Acknowledgements ii CEU eTD Collection Appendix 1...... 80 ...... 72 8. Conclusion 7. Extremism...... 58 6. Ethnic ...... 43 politics 5. Euroscepticism...... 31 4. Voter turnouts in national ...... 24 elections 3. The electoral ...... 21 system 2. Background information ...... 9 1. Introduction...... 1 Interview Summaries...... 80 7.3 Pan-European comparative perspective...... 64 7.2 Extremism in Bulgaria: The Coalition Attack...... 60 7.1 The terms and the grounds for ...... 58 comparison 6.6 Ethnic political parties in a comparative ...... 53 perspective 6.5 MRF as a political party...... 51 6.4 MRF as an ethnic formation in Bulgaria...... 49 6.3 The case of Romania...... 48 6.2 The case of Slovakia...... 48 6.1 Comparative elements...... 45 5.2 The case ...... 36 of Bulgaria 5.1 Academic deliberations...... 31 2.3 Formation of the Current Party Politics...... 16 2.2 Historical Overview...... 13 2.1 Legal Framework...... 9 1.2 Methodology...... 6 1.1 Defining the concepts...... 4 Stanimir Ilchev...... 97 Marin Lessenski...... 93 Kostadin Paskalev...... 90 Ivan Atanasov Kolchakov...... 87 Anastasia Moser...... 84 Agop Garabedyan...... 80 7.3.7 Comparative assessment of right-wing radical parties in Europe...... 69 7.3.6 Other cases...... 68 7.3.5 Austria...... 67 ...... 67 7.3.4 France ...... 66 7.3.3 Slovakia 7.3.2 Poland...... 66 7.3.1 Romania...... 65 Table of Contents iii CEU eTD Collection 9. Selected Bibliography...... 121 Appendix 6...... 120 Appendix 5...... 117 Appendix 4...... 115 Appendix 3...... 114 Appendix 2...... 113 Party-based Euroscepticism model by Kopecky and Mudde...... 117 Party-based Euroscepticism model by Taggart and ...... 115 Szczerbiak Voter Turnouts...... 114 Electoral Systems...... 113 Vasil ...... 108 Garnizov Tchetin Kazak...... 105 Stanislav Stanilov...... 102 iv CEU eTD Collection of Bulgarian party politics. I have identified five relevant variables: relevant five identified have I politics. party Bulgarian of assess and scope variables the the level thatwill beused to the of introduce Europeanization term. the of definition the with extensively deal will thispaper section of first the Consequently, Europeanization. of concept party one clearly broader of mustpolitics, the define Bulgarian Europeanization party the andinfluence can affectextentwhat process if EUdecision-making the andto deliberate politics scientists all time,a at same social as Atthe term. is applicable Europeanization of concept in i.e. not.There ongoing whether the Europeanized are camp or into debates ‘Western’, the the countries fall is does be answeredcase to if Bulgarian question the Thebasicresearch continuum. less’ or ‘more onthe of Europeanization degree the will I depict Therefore, not. or ‘Europeanized’ of CEE. For of Bulgarian the party Europeanization politics. a successfuldebates after the initiation of the enlargement of EU-15. This thesis will assess the level of academic political and theboth realm of entered has immediately concept This politics. analysis party of Europeanization of process the on concentrate Iwill thesis this In Europeanization. of process as the been termed has changes of these initiation of process The structures. of the ledtochangesEuropean Union domestic social ineconomic, and (EU) political, their levelinto consolidatedof Western-style of transition/transformation a process initiated (CEE) Europe Eastern and Central of countries democracies. At the same1. Introduction time, their aspiration to join the 2. 1. voter turnout in national parliamentary elections, parliamentary national in turnout voter itself, system of electoral nature the the However, in order to proceed with the analysis of the Bulgarian case, I shall firstly fully canbeconsidered case Bulgarian the answerwhether give adefinite One cannot formerCommunist the Warsaw Pact, the and Union theSoviet of collapse With the 1 CEU eTD Collection Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001 Europeanization and Domestic Change Lord, Systems John Gaffney, London: Routledge, 1996; Systems”, Anderson and Kjell Eliassen, London: Sage, 1993; Andeweg, Rudy, Reshaping “The of National Party 1 ‘extreme’ As the for camps them. within and thetwo across patterns are there evidently, case, but from to itvaries case of nature ethnic the and politics to givesrise minorities ethnic and international rhetoric of political parties both in power and in opposition. The presence of Asitsdisregard a importance cannot new inshaping one result, domestic the member-states. logical.was just hasstrong force both withinemerged asaEU-15andthe Euroscepticism the turnouts in ofvoter andterms CEE Europe Western comparing it. Therefore, partof Western anymore. This trend is prevalent, according tosome authors, across Europe, but mainly in the go pollsnot frequently tothe do citizens the that of politics literature electoral mainstream in the made being are Arguments winners. the selecting of mechanism the determines system electoral of the nature the since international, domestic or that game,be political the on literature my topicthe hasinfluenced choice. inThus, asubstantial levelreview of academic the existing of particular. Europeanization assess in to and general, make patterns Europeanization of could astudy be usedto factors whatspecific transformationbutany can hardly to references andEuropeanization,see factors couldof largethat influenced numberof have thecourse the potentially One finda caneasily literature. intheacademic topic tothis references lack specific of any my for by is the aframework justified analysis as variables particular of The choice these See for instance Seefor 5. 4. 3. Political Parties in the European Union , edited, by Klaus H.Goetz and Simon Hix,London: Frank Cass, 2000; Hix,Simon and Christopher the existence of ‘extreme trends’ in party in politics. trends’ of party existence ‘extreme the politics, of ethnic nature the party-based Euroscepticism, To be more specific, the nature of the electoral system defines the arena for the rest of West European Politics Making Policy in Europe: The Europeification of National Policy-making 18,1995, pages58-78; , edited by Maria Green Cowles, James Caporaso and Thomas Risse, Europeanised Politics? European Integration and National Political , London: Macmillan, 1997; and 2 1 Political Parties and the European Union European the and Parties Political Transforming Europe: , edited by Svein , edited by CEU eTD Collection Europeanization of each variable. The final concluding chapter of this paper will enumerate paperwill of this chapter concluding final variable. The each of Europeanization and only then concentrate of Europe, Western and Eastern inboth the a detailedof trends analysis incorporate will chapters Bulgarian these case of Each separately. andabove presented depictvariable each scrutinizing to itsbe devoted will complexities and the level were facedfrom challenges that fall the starting ofZhivkov’s chapters regime. The following of the and parties political of development the of overview historical a give briefly will follow widebetween gap the a is there since case Bulgarian in the important is particularly framework legal the Definitely, is discussed. inpolitics party affairs of state current the of evolution the relevance when itwill have agreat Furthermore, Act. Parliament of Members of and 2001Elections the Act, Political Parties the constitution, from country’s the articles relevant the of analysis the legal framework within party which the in functions.politics Bulgaria This incorporate will the in Iwillintroduce chapter, the background Afterwards,in methodology thesis. this used followed my by primary bein on be whichwill conceptsanalysis, a section to the used party of politics. degreeof Bulgarian the Europeanization assess on Thiswillhelpto the concentrate case. Iwillfurther Bulgarian Europe. and Eastern Central to it apply and analysis of scheme same the follow will I hand, other On the Europe. Western intheregion of five in variables above trends the mentioned predominant the importanceabove whenanalyzing its areof the process impact. andgreat of Europeanization outlined variables five the Overall, policies. and platforms their amend to arena political present acrossrhetoric the continent.hasit trends, has ‘extremist’ been rise widelyacknowledged thatthe parties with political of been pertinent Their agendaacross Europe.and oratory Political forces parties the major with players extremist on thediscourses are As was mentioned earlier, the next section of this chapter will firstly define the define firstly will chapter this of section next the earlier, mentioned was As analyze will I hand, one the On structure. two-dimensional a follow will thesis This de jure de and the and de facto 3 players on the political arena. The section to CEU eTD Collection process of Europeanizationvery wide-ranging explanation of the term.“refers As iswidely agreed in the academicliterature, the to responses a give it, or of variables or aspects particular the tackle either of them Most Europeanization. by actors – institutional and otherwiseconcepts the 1.1 Defining – to CEE with the aim identifyingof transformation patterns in the new member-states. region the of larger be study across later comparative a usedfor This will thesis perspective. from comparative the party politics their of transformation the any,exploring study if is little, there community, into ‘European’ the entry is latest Romania, the like as Bulgaria, Furthermore, on subject. the literature pool a vastof to contributing at thesisaims this rather but Europeanization, and of transformation concept broader from the isolated region are This is not to suggest the changes that the party politics has or still is undergoing in the CEE onthelevel study, Iwillconcentrate in thus of Europeanization of particular. party politics level in the countries of CEE. However,impact domestic havingagreat the on starts inBrussels decision-making acknowledged, this is too large of a topic to be coveredis aswidely theaccession, After member-states. new of the politics thedomestic influencing in a single largerone. the within framework theoretical adifferent willfollow samechapter the At each time, parties. of focus ontheEuropeanization political andemphasis of particular with Europeanization forframework this thesis be from overall will derived vastpool the on literature of topic the theoretical The in particular. Bulgaria of politics party in the and ingeneral system the main research findings of the author and give predictions on the future changes in the In social sciences, there is a vast number of different definitions of term the of definitions different of number is avast there sciences, In social of Europeanization isjustparty politics apiece of a larger factors the puzzle about 4 CEU eTD Collection page 34 5 4 3 issue 8, November2002, pg389 - 403 2 integration” impact of European the decision-making from electorates” from domestic decision-making of increases “theremoteness key actors onthedomestic its influence makingand process Democracy and the Challenge of AsLadrech of Europeanization newmember-states. the Robert inhas hisargued “Social European Integration”,of process the of direction the and nature the the exploring when analysis of rising a unit role of the EU decision- and their platforms. At the same time, itis of utmost importance to include political parties as in “focuses this literature on orientation European the policy individualof parties” political Parliament (EP) and the development of transnational party federations” “on in level,i.e. outsidefocuses groups European party national the parties as the actors political with deals firstcategory categories. The two into be divided can Europeanization influenced either orbecomeinfluence themselves. of direction process, the process the that of the asactors politicalthe parties on of enough role the emphasis Europeanization put influence each other. Neither this,nor the majority of the rest of the definitions of the process processes decision-making European and actors domestic where process is adouble-edged considered falling into ‘mainstreamthe electoral intrends’ Europe. Furthermore, by task the scopeexploring and the levelof Europeanization Bulgarianof politics. party I will will tothe This projectpolitical of of in contribute CEE. Europeanization, region parties the ascertainitis of utmostimportance to analyze this level of transformation, or more precisely, whetherand formation in the decision-making process, but also changes it toalarge extent. Therefore, the case of the Bulgarian party politics can be Ladrech, Robert, Ladrech, Ibid. Ladrech, 2002 Ladrech, Robert, “Europeanization and Political Parties: Towards a Framework for Analysis”, for Framework a Towards Parties: Political and “Europeanization Robert, Ladrech, The literature on political parties and their involvement with the process with of process the involvement onpolitical andtheir The literature parties Social Democracyand the Challengeof European Union 2 . From processof . From the Europeanization this perspective, 5 . This not only affects the role of political parties 5 , Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000, 3 . The second camp second . The Party Politics , 4 CEU eTD Collection 7 page 111. Politics: A Guide to ContemporaryTheory and Research one hand (the Left) and state abstention or restrictiveness on the other (the Right)” (the other the on restrictiveness or abstention state and Left) (the hand one the Left-Right ideology in electoral politics, with “a juxtaposition of state intervention on the can asfollowing be identified member-states of majority EU overwhelming the factthat the political arena fall within the range of center-right to center-left. This definition is justified by 6 trends in voter turnouts in Bulgaria are ‘Europeanized’ or are still typical of the CEE region. determine were comparedBoth in the whether Bulgaria to andstates. European to order CEE Western analysis of for separate in permitted a way coded that model was time. The regressions. Thishelped inidentifying trends invoter turnouts both andacross Europe across using were created functions of the in-built SPSSprogram the linear by and running of here:analysis areused andqualitative. former quantitative Forthe models quantitative Twomethods and setsof frameworks. literature theoretical analyzed separate academic using are politics party Bulgarian of level Europeanization measure/assess the of to presented 1.2 Methodology regarding political-institutional the organization of their thannot” democracies more characteristics share ‘mostthey similar’: areinmany countries respects European EU all that But“theestablished have etc. frameworks, legal sameelectoral the member-states trends, claim to not is This member-states. EU throughout all evident is trends politics according predominance of the tothisdefinition, continuum. Therefore, center-right – center-left the on ‘play’ states these is actors political main the time, same Ibid., page 107. Pennings, Paul, “Voters, Elections and Ideology in European Democracies”, in Democracies”, European in Ideology and Elections “Voters, Paul, Pennings, I define This thesis isbased primarily on aliterature review on the topic. Each of the variables mainstream electoral trends as those where the dominant key players on the on players key dominant the where those as trends electoral 6 , edited by Hans Keman, SAGE Publications, 2002, Comparative Democratic mainstream 7 . 6 . At the party CEU eTD Collection included: interviewed Those in Bulgaria. Sofia, conducted were interviews personal Moreover, used. was platforms party analysis of Euroscepticism, discourse on chapter in the especially forethnicresults wereexamined. parties where electoral aswell, politics on inethnic chapter the used was Quantitative analysis 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Qualitative analysis wasdonemainly literaturerelying of reviews. In some cases, Educaion Educaion and Committee Science of Member Culture; for Commission Parliamentary Permanent the of Chairman Dr. Committee StanislavAffairs Foreign of Member Coalition; National Bulgarian of Group Stanilov, Parliamentary the of Chairman Vice Mozer, Anastasia Dr. MemberDr. Stanimir Ilchev, Spokesman NMSS of Parliament Care Committee Memberof Health Committee; Movement, Equal Social Model Movement; Memberfrom of Labor and Social Policy the Day St. George’s BAPU, DP,NationalAlliance-BAPU, Forces, Democratic Coalition of UnitedKolchakov,the Parliamentary of Group Dr. IvanAtanasov Member Attack;Development Committee; Member of Budget and Finance Committee Vice Urban and Policy Regional Self-Government, Local of Chairperson Deputy Dr. Kostadin Paskalev, Member of Parliamentary Group Coalition for Bulgaria; Studies International and Regional of Institute Programs, of Director Lessenski, Marin Dr. Academy of Sciences of Bulgarian Balkan Studies, of Institute the Agop Garabedyan,Director Dr. Bulgarian University Dr. Vassil Garnizov, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, New 7 CEU eTD Collection The executive summaries of the main points of the interviews can be found in Appendix 1. in Appendix found be can interviews the of points main the of summaries executive The opinions.independent political interviewedvoicedrespective whereasscholars their parties, their of from perspective the analyze issues TheMPs these wereaskedto in Bulgaria. Euroscepticism and politics, ethnic extremism, main areas: three on elaborate to were asked in from personal All conducted informalmannerof interviewees. an due to the requests them from andinterviews NewBulgarianInternational the were Studies, University. The three scholars as well – and selected, was parties majorfrom political each of from the a representative Therefore, former. the Academy of Sciences, andmain analysisthe scholars position the anumberof topresent actors, political of the of from the Institute of Regional and 9. In the selection of the interviewees I aimed at creating a representative sample of the of sample arepresentative creating at Iaimed interviewees the of selection In the Member of the European Parliament European of the Member Observer MRF; of the Group Parliamentary of the Secretary Kazak,MP, Tchetin Dr. 8 CEU eTD Collection between them during the early phases of democratization reduced “the likelihood of “the likelihood reduced of between early phases them the democratization during functioning multiparty system. However, the dominancewould beinappropriate defineto Bulgaria in wakeof the of transformationthe as period a fully two major parties it and well, as the formations rivalrypolitical other for chances theoretical fair includes multiparty-ism of definition the since and arena, political the dominating were BSP and UDF success. for electoral politicalhadno other chances any party two-party de facto system, where in Inthe wakeof elections. beginning the transition of the 1990s,Bulgariaprocess was the a allhypothetically, leastthat national at the haveequal of winning parties chances, the means have proposed isThe definition I needed. of point afurther Nevertheless, clarification onDecember 1, 2006. 8 provided by inSartori his one the similar to adefinition for votes, competing fairly are more parties or where two functioning democracy inits minimalist sense,Iwill define a multiparty system as one, dominance of multipartya system 2006, inArticle 1declares Bulgaria aparliamentary Articlerepublic, and 11recognizesthe party nominations. elections governing topartypolitics from frequency the andto everything related elections of rules of as panoply Act Parliament of Members of 2001Election asthe aswell Act, Parties it is essential to examine the relevant relevantarticles legal framework of withinthe whichBulgarian the party politics isConstitution to be taking place. In this context, and the Political Framework Legal 2.1 2. Backgroundinformation National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria, < http://www.parliament.bg/?page=const&lng=en >,accessed The Constitution, adopted in amendedin 2005,and The subsequently 2003, 1991 and adopted Constitution, In order to successfully analyze the Bulgarian case, one must clearly identify the Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis Framework for Systems:A Parties andParty 8 . Definitely, ‘multiparty-ism’ is a prerequisite of a of isa prerequisite ‘multiparty-ism’ . Definitely, 9 . CEU eTD Collection the law.the adoption the immediately after of inArmenia authorities with have appropriate the registered requireshave allpoliticalleast partiesmembers. to 200 at Consequently, parties 120political Armenia in Parties Political on Law 2002 the example, For states. post-communist/socialist < 10 2004, page 133. introduced higherelections. It both financial for politicaldeposits parties The and coalitions. form a political party. of instead previous signatures the 500 to Oneelections. modificationsrequiredthe of 5,000 The Election Law was also modified prior to the last parliamentary its in members beArticle Bulgarian 7–allwere citizens to required registered 50 as little as with parties political of formation the for permitted have As not functioning majority the aproperly those did law the structure. a result, of however, registered; more parties were officially than factthat 150 political outcomethe of < Europe elections.” coming wake of the in the free activity their for andallow new parties of emergence legitimizethe the to task law whichhadasamajor very concise and adopted Assembly in 1990, was typical Constitution’s Articleof 11, which identifies Bulgaria theas a multiparty system. initial the with inaccordance goes party politics Bulgarian currently the agreethat analysts Most transition towardsystem. a multiparty into transformation a gradual was there Nevertheless, party politics. democracy. current of formation feature of important the wasan ‘party tourism’ Slovenia, of exception ”It was a fast < 12 2006 2, December on accessed 11 December2, 2006 9 them” between wanderings Millard, Frances, Millard, http://www.cecl.gr/RigasNetwork/databank/REPORTS/r7/Bu_7_Karasimeonov.html http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/legislationAll.asp?country=bulgaria&legislation=bg9098lpp http://www.parliament.am Karasimeonov, Georgi, “The Law on Political Parties in Bulgaria”, October 1999, Information taken from the official website of the National Assembly of Armenia, Political Parties Act: Bulgaria, , University of , University Essex, The law on political parties, called the Political Parties Act, adopted by National the adopted Act, Parties Political the called parties, political on The law 12 The inPolitical Act Parties Bulgaria wasamended 2005national tothe prior Elections, Parties, andRepresentation in Post-Communist Europe >, last accessed on December 2, 2006 2, December on accessed >, last 9 Political Transformation and the Electoral Process in Post-Communist . In the other post-communist/socialist countries, with the notable 10 11 . This situation is typical of almost all , Palgrave Macmillan, Palgrave , >, last accessed on accessed last >, 10 It was an >, last CEU eTD Collection < Europe < Europe Members of Parliament Act membershipthe infor the runningfor candidates theEU.As 2001 Elections Parliament, of in Article 52 stipulates towards a of progress a pre-requisite society and of a democratic element battles –acrucial that they political havethe in non-intervention its totime, same the at interrupt and, military the of objectivity the their service accessed on December 2, 2006. 2, December on accessed 16 2006. 2, December on accessed 15 14 < National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, 13 the Ministry of Interior cannotbe affiliated with any political party limitation were imposed on its formation. legal these Consequently, strength. its despite party ethnic Turkish functioning fully becomea and to for Freedoms Rights Movementthe ability limiting the of of importance wasthe had Negotiations main Roundtable during the agreedupon the issues actors that brought them “closer inline with independent forrequirements candidates” which wasalsoraised, inelections compete for aparty to numbersignatures of required Freedoms, which is which Freedoms, and Rights of Movement the like a party of existence the to due in Bulgaria politics electoral parties. political religious (Articleany paragraph This ban2, subparagraph 3). 3, to constitutional racial alsoor extends in 2). This was Political Act the (Article 11,paragraph reiterated political Parties parties decreased. has national elections drastically in the competing parties political of number the legislation, existing the to amendments these http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/legislationAll.asp?country=bulgaria&legislation=bg9098lpp http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/legislationAll.asp?country=bulgaria&legislation=bg9098lpp http://www.accessdemocracy.org/library/1976_bg_roma_011806.pdf Political Parties Act: Bulgaria, Political Parties Act: Bulgaria, Ibid. Voynova, Sevdalina, “Roma Participation in the 2005 Parliamentary Elections”, report published by the , University of , University Essex, of , University Essex, Furthermore, Article 14 states that any person belonging to the Armed Forces orto Forces Armed the belongingany to that person Articlestates 14 Furthermore, A unique feature of the Bulgarian Constitution is its ban on the formation of ethnic of formation the on ban its is Constitution Bulgarian the of feature A unique de facto de 15 Political Transformation and the Electoral Process in Post-Communist Political Transformation and the Electoral Process in Post-Communist This is an important aspect of the formation of the current an ethnic political formation. One could argue that the only the could arguethat formation. One an political ethnic 14 11 >, last accessed onMay 19, 2007 16 . This was done toassure 13 . As a result of >, last >, last CEU eTD Collection higher voter turnout rates. turnout voter higher Communist Europe, University of Essex, < 2001 Elections of Members of Parliament Act, Political Transformation and Electoral Process inPost- (2) Eachvoter shall be entered into one single election roll. ward. the of Secretary the and Mayor by the besigned shall rolls election wards, into divided cities In Mayor Proxy municipality. the the of or Secretary the and mayoralty of the Mayor the or municipality of the Mayor the by signed and kept is registrar (1) Election rolls shall be drawn up by the municipal administrations in the communities where the population 18 May on 9, 2007. http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/legislationAll.asp?country=bulgaria&legislation=bg2001 Communist Europe, University of Essex, < 2001 Elections of Members of Parliament Act, Political TransformationParliament. for and Electoral candidates as Process registration intheir Post- after also (6) provisionsThe under para 1 shall not apply to Ministers and the Prime Minister. Their powers shall continue relationship with the otherperson shall employment bethe terminatedperson, withoutby another occupied is serving candidate any elected notice. ofthe position previous the Where (5) consent. their with one another orat organisation or cent per 50 exceeding interest municipal or government another occupy to closed, is equivalent position the positionwhere at or, the same powers central governmentof their or municipaltermination institution, upon enterprisepositions orcompanyprevious withtheir central central government or municipal interest exceeding 50 per cent ororganisations, shall be entitled to return to (4) Elected candidates,working in central government or municipal institutions,enterprises orcompanies with beuninterrupted. to bedeemed shall leave the repealed, is cancellation the Where cancellation. of date ofthe as bediscontinued shall 1 para under leave the cancelled, is registration the Where (3) purposes. insurance health and security social for be recognised shall leave The (2) inclusive. election of the results of the announcement the to registration the from period the for choice their at leave paid annual or leave unpaid get and registration their (1) Candidates forparliament holding positions in thepublic administration shall interrupt their service upon 17 Registrar. Population National from the drawn is automatically and is state-initiated process registration responsibility for compiling election rolls on the municipal authorities, i.e. the voter electionsis andbeforemention important to It them. full Articlethat 26of Actputs the obligations the specifies Act The candidates. elected of the service the of termination of rules the well as of the authoritiesand define the proceduresand and candidates, voters legitimate identify andballoting, of thetechnicalities govern elections the of citizens,appointment and theas functionswell asof of office. term the his/her completing after immediately position their Election rights Committee, his/herto return is to entitled candidate the if that elected, states article The same candidates. onas the as registration day after immediately leave unpaid get and of administration public the for the Article 26: Article 52 The 2001 Elections of Members of Parliament Act contains the main principles that principles main the contains Act Parliament of Members of Elections 2001 The 18 As will be discussed later, this could potentially be one of the factors boosting factors the of be one potentially could this later, be discussed Aswill 12 17 >, last accessed last >, CEU eTD Collection 2004, page 235 Roma, BulgariansArmenians, Jews,Muslim (Pomaks), Tatars,Gaguzi,Bulgarian, Protestant on the Bulgarian werepresentfollowingAccording 1893censusthe to groups nationalitiesandreligious the territory: territory. Bulgarian the on present minorities the all against were policies EasternZhivkov’s Officially Rite revival’. ‘national process the and homogenization, Orthodox assimilation, ethnic of Bulgarians, them inmid-1980sfrom usinglanguage and their their the religion policies practicing –the Turks, Romanians,campaign its peakreached whenheforced ethnic change Turks to theirnames and banned Greeks,predecessors by introducing the secondwavesuppression of all against minorities.Thethe Communist his till in1954 andremaineduncontested of thepolicies Party 1989,continued 19 May on 9, 2007. http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/legislationAll.asp?country=bulgaria&legislation=bg2001 engaged in“the first wave inof against Bulgarian repression Turks early the 1950s” at time in the power government the asapretext, collectivization to agricultural Turks the usedsimilarthrough terror, sizeable against techniques this minority. resistance Usingthe of coup constituted 10 % of the total population. The Communist Party leadership, who after the 1944 which specificallyresidents, ethnicallyTurkish againstnationalism, the through targeted 1980swasdeflected the throughout image Union. GrowingSoviet discontent mirror the of of sort years,a fulla Bulgaria was in 40 over dependence, and economic addition political to September 1944aCommunist-inspired understand to important the historical of party evolution the 1944. In starting from politics Overview 2.2 Historical Millard, Frances, Millard, used the opportunity brutallyCommunist usedtheanypotential to opportunity repress opposition to rule Todor Christov Zhivkov, who became the Secretary-General of Bulgarian the of Secretary-General the became who Zhivkov, Christov Todor In order to analyze the current state of affairs in the Bulgarian party politics, it is politics, party Bulgarian of state the affairs in analyze to current the In order Elections, Parties, andRepresentation in Post-Communist Europe coup 13 installed a new government in Bulgaria. For in Bulgaria. government new a installed , Palgrave Macmillan, Palgrave , >, last accessed last >, 19 . CEU eTD Collection ɦɚɥɰɢɧɫɬɜɚ ɊɟɩɭɛɥɢɤɚȻɴɥɝɚɪɢɹɫɴɝɥɚɫɧɨɱɥ < Protectionof National Minorities, “Repressions against Ethnic Minorities: 1944-1989”, accessed through 21 May 10, 2007 20 religion. on based parties political of formation the on ban constitutional a was there time, same the At practices. religious and religion the basis of sex, religion, legislations.appropriate all TheConstitution protected citizensthe againstdiscrimination on ethnicity, race,beinlanguagelanguage by stipulated training Theregulations schools. for to were the social their learn to standing,right the granted were they time, same the At nation. Bulgarian the representing etc. It also origin, stipulated non-Bulgarian of citizens as them to referred it instead all; at minorities national freedom of evidentin their case. was most and repression discrimination the Bulgaria, in down.ethnic highnumericalTurksandMuslims However, representation of duetothe shut were minority Armenian the of schools all example, For minorities. ethnic the against as for‘national hisa guideline the process revival’ Zhivkov initiated discriminatory measures was implemented,repressions the uponall minorities. touched Using existing the thesis this When Zhivkov’s thesisofethnichomogenization1967 of Bulgarian the Socialist nation underconducted Communistthe include regime didnot onethnicity questions and religion. censuses the Furthermore, minorities. ethnic and national the on information statistical any get impossible to it was practically campaigns, assimilation and homogenization attemptsalterations to denyas well. borders have changed, composition of and the ethnic Bulgaria hasundergone enormous But duethe to the ‘closeness’existenceVlachs, Russians, and Germans. of the Communist regimeof andnational its systematic and ethnic minorities, alongside with the http://www.government.bg Report submitted by Bulgaria pursuant to Article 25, paragraph 1 of the Framework Convention for the for Convention Framework of the 1 paragraph 25, Article to pursuant Bulgaria by submitted Report Country Report:Bulgaria, Country Studies US, < mentionnot did ethnic or 1947, of unlike Constitution The 1971Constitution, the , 2003 , 2003 ɝ . >, last accessed on May 10, 2007, original document in Bulgarian, .25, .25, ɚɥ 20 .1 Certainly, as a consequence of two World Wars, the ɨɬɊɚɦɤɨɜɚɬɚɤɨɧɜɟɧɰɢɹɡɚɡɚɳɢɬɚɧɚɧɚɰɢɨɧɚɥɧɢɬɟ http://countrystudies.us/bulgaria/25.htm 14 >, last accessed on accessed last >, ɞɨɤɥɚɞɧɚ 21 CEU eTD Collection independent Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (BANU), head of headof state” (BANU), Union Agrarian National Bulgarian independent support of in peasantry,the Georgi 1964 Zhivkovnominated “chief Traikov, nominally the of himopposition to not only butwithinoutside in the party as toearn well. order However, the economically. and politically both level local the on reforms encouraged even He before. much as as bloc Eastern the over exercise control attemptto not himself did Gorbachev At sametime, the periphery. the on opposition consolidate it mucheasierto became Doctrine, Brezhnev the abolished Gorbachev When loosened. was i.e.Moscow, center, the from leadership. have Definitely, removal not Zhivkov would the of been unlesscontrol possible the post of the Secretary General of the Party as he was forced to do so by the Party authoritarian/id_6972/catid_30 November24-30 2006, < 23 < 22 Fatherland the within collaborator its as BANU of role the and state’, the and society designed a new constitution,Consequently, which “specifiedat the disastrousTenth theParty role Congress of theevents avoidBCP firmly in in1968,theparty Czechoslovakia Bulgarian decided to the repetition these of in as1971 ‘the the onleading Bulgariantheir force soilCommunist in that Party would (BCP) potentially weaken the firm grip of the party. thanan rather of coup’ a ‘palace-led thefeatures resembled indifferent Bulgaria than ‘revolution’ region. in elsewhere in The morethe Bulgaria in dictator an very the change November in1989was absolute 1989.However, regime of home at and resulted abroad inmass demonstrations and the removal opposition of Zhivkov from his position of General well. as Moscow from style governing his of assessments critical on an international level. With coming topower,ZhivkovGorbachev received anumber of http://www.hrw.org/reports/1990/WR90/HELSINKI.BOU-01.htm Vatahov, Ivan, “Todor Zhivkov – The Longest Serving Authoritarian”, April 2003, The Sofia Echo, issue 47: issue Echo, Sofia The 2003, April Authoritarian”, Serving Longest The – Zhivkov “Todor Ivan, Vatahov, “Bulgaria: Human Rights Developments”, HumanRights WatchPublications, During the early phases of Zhivkov’s rule, he was merciless towards any sort of sort any towards merciless was he rule, Zhivkov’s of phases early the During The discontent with Zhivkov’s rule was steadily growing both inside the country and country the inside both growing steadily was rule Zhivkov’s with discontent The http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/todor-zhivkov---the-longest-serving- >, accessed in December 2, 2006. December in accessed >, 15 >, last accessed onApril 10, 2007 en masse venture. 23 . After the events the After . 22 Zhivkov left CEU eTD Collection 87. 2007 11, April on Sofia, in conducted interview Committee, 27 Affairs of Foreign Member Coalition, National 26 2003, page 103. the oppositional Union ofto spreadDemocratic the responsibility forForces the reforms ahead,(UDF)” the Romania.large, Thisis “Inelections. in in region a unique case an to at BSPaddition the attempt elected as President the leader of surprisingly,name subsequentnational BulgarianSocialistthe Party into(BSP)and, the won Politics Party Current the of Formation 2.3 prevents them from passing constituency-specific legislations more frequently. mentioned, agrariansdonotactin agrarian party, the mannera uniform which anymore, coalition has agrarian an inAs party it. Moser,onefounding of the membersof then united andeachparliamentary fragmented arevery The agrarians reformed BCP. the i.e.Party, formations, one of which dividedintoa number andpolitical parties of BANUgot political arena,even though is in the current thangoverning one political coalition party was functioning with the – bothBulgarian the parties Socialistare still players on the Bulgarian 25 24 themselves. amongst in adisagreement were which parties, fifteen of consisted coalition UDF The country. the dominated instability political and existence into came parliament independent only won” always Front the by favored candidate the district, per allowed candidate one wasonly since there and, Front Fatherland in the enlisted were parties both districts, in single-member held were elections Assembly “National Front” Palmowski, Jan, Palmowski, of Bulgarian Group Parliamentary ofthe Chairman Vice Moser, Dr. Anastasia with interview Personal Rose, Richard and Neil Munro, Vatahov 24 The monopoly Communist by1990 partysuccessfully was anditsover the changed . Despite the fact that officially there were two formally recognized parties, and parties, formally recognized two were there officially that fact the Despite . Oxford Dictionary of Twentieth Century World History de jure , Bulgaria was among the very few Soviet satellite states where more where states satellite amongfew Soviet very , Bulgaria was the Elections and Parties in New European Democracies 16 25 . It is noteworthy that although BANU was 27 . As a result of the elections a hung , Oxford University Press, 1997, page , CQ Press, Washington, 26 CEU eTD Collection 32 31 30 2, 2006 < 29 28 transitory from phase a one-partymonopoly in was Bulgaria anddetermined the arguesthat politics, party on Bulgarian expert leading anda inBulgaria University full-fledged democracy. Georgi Karasimeonov, a Professor of Political Science at Sofia it facilitates the surfacing of a well functioning civil society, which is a pre-condition for a Moreover, democratization. towards step asafirst states in post-communist/socialist systems isin in today as well.coalition power Bulgaria majority BSPanabsolute elections gavethe December1994-aBSP-led the Therefore, party” Communist the of members former majority “intheir members were and whose leaders regime which had formed theUDF. They included three major political groups” assembled inthemonthssprung newin the downfall afterparties up that the old the of within heterogeneity caused divisions each block. this consequently, and, in themselves homogenous not were blocks both However, resources. Theirideological confrontation fueled bydisagreements was over redistribution and of power had taken part in various protest actions preceding the downfall of downfallthe regime” actions of communistthe in preceding had various protest part taken former “which ‘historical inthepre-communisttimes]; parties’ existed [those that dissidents, http://www.cecl.gr/RigasNetwork/databank/REPORTS/r7/Bu_7_Karasimeonov.html Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Karasimeonov, Georgi, “The Law on Political Parties in Bulgaria”, October 1999, Palmowski, 86-87. pages 32 Most of the modern political science literature recognizes the emergence of multiparty theemergenceof recognizes of literature modernpolitical Most the science According to Karasimeonov, “the proponents of former radical reforms were offormerreforms radical “the proponents Karasimeonov, to According ; and the third group consisted of a number of newly created political parties and Communist party Communist representatives of aroundsystem the oldthe grouped the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF)in and on the united other the movement reform the of forces political driving political blocks. Onone supporters side werethe and the cleavagemajor in revealed two between struggle the dominated by majorone division and ortransitory conflict, 29 . 17 28 >, accessed on December on accessed >, 30 : the : 31 , CEU eTD Collection select one candidate who must receive a plurality of votes. of plurality a receive who must candidate one select 36 35 34 33 system. the and society the of westernization immediate for an opted that generation newthe of representatives andthe communists distinctgroups of classUDF the supporters: wasmarginalizedthat andoppressed under the organizations. Along the divisions within the UDF-led coalition, Karasimeonov identifies two “accepted the rules of parliamentary democracy and evolutionary change” homogenousnot either: revolutionary some supported de-communization and some favored first-past-the-post system factions of within party.the a between balancingrange intoinsuccessfully aparliamentary party its succeeded transition Bulgarian least wasabletoremainone atit until Afterwards of elections the cohesive 1990. ideologues” the Marxist‘hard-liners’, “theof representativesof survive ‘oldguard’fightingthe to and theirkeep privileges and the consisted latter the and wings, moderate and into radical itself within divided The former was Karasimeonov. according to neo-communists, reforms andthe advocated – those that groups also far from presenting a homogenous political force. They were divided into two major bringing the party closer tobeing a particularistic one. – interests narrow fighting their over factions crackingdifferent with started coalition the waspartially accomplished, However,when task this electorate. stable level and arelatively existing local/municipal timewhich embedded was very strong atthat structures on dueto party, BSP, defy therenamed wereunited the communist to groups all beginning, these FPTP or a‘simple plurality’ system –divides the country into single-memberconstituencies and the voters Ibid. Ibid. Karasimeonov In terms of electoral reforms, the two blocks could not come to terms either. BSP On the other side of the continuum was the so-called communist camp, which was 36 , “assuming that as the best organized party itwould organizedas thebest party , “assuming that 35 . Unlike most of . Unlike CEE communist parties, the 18 33 Moreover, the political tactics of were UDF of tactics political the Moreover, 34 . From the From . CEU eTD Collection proportional representation system a party-list through areelected inBulgaria Assembly National membersof the the seats” have UDF talks round-table qualifythese “4to and BSPconcurred a to %threshold for d’Hondt the with representation by proportional 200deputies mixedwas agreed,electing “a system Consequently, 2005, page 22 Studies Publicin Policy 44 43 < 42 41 40 parties. small scattered over coalitions and parties large favors 39 multimemberconstituencies. 38 37 it both PR andsingle-memberseats” organization; won for and Rights asacivil rights recognized in theFreedoms Movement getting succeeded Turks ethnic office, registration byelectoral initial the the “after refusal Interestingly, provision bans that formationthe of partiespolitical and organizations based on ethnicity. from by Turkish minority into a of putting effect their party own apolitical organizing most” benefit government” in acoalition partner minor a been has and Turks, representing a party iseffectively Freedom constitutional ban on formation the ethnicof political parties,for “the Rights andMovement and BSP blocks were in an open confrontation, which resulted in the radicalization of the of radicalization inthe which resulted confrontation, inblocksopen an and were BSP party system. The nature of ethnic politics in Bulgaria will be addressed in the later chapters. Rose, Richard, “Are Bulgaria and Romania up to EU Standards? A New Europe Barometer Evaluation”, Barometer ANew Europe Standards? to up EU Romania and Bulgaria “Are Richard, Rose, Rose Munro,and page 104. International Foundationfor Electoral Systems Election Guide, Ibid. Rose Munro,and page 103. Highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method slightly large several into divided is country the usually of preference; inorder ofcandidates alist presents party Each Rose Munro,and page 103. http://www.electionguide.org/country.php?ID=34 41 At the beginning of At beginningthe round-table of the negotiationsblocks both agreedtopreventthe In the wake of the formation of party system and party politics in Bulgaria, the UDF in Themixed PRballot. the system was usedonly during the in elections 1990. Now 44 37 . Currently, the existence of the MRF is crucial to the analysis of the Bulgarian . UDF, on the other hand, argued for a proportional representation system representation a proportional for argued hand, other the on UDF, . , Centre for the Study of Public Policy,University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, 39 42 formula, and 200 in single-member districts” in single-member 200 and formula, . >, accessed on December 5, 2006. 5, December on accessed >, 19 43 . Nevertheless, despite the 40 . During . 38 . CEU eTD Collection 47 46 45 restructured. protests. The nextelectionspower,UDF broughtback but to politicalthe arena wasalso mass led to policies their with dissatisfaction electorate’s the in 1997since early elections to resign agree and to was forced government BSP-led the emerging. Interestingly, started At same –BSPwasvictorious. independence the andmovements time, newpolitical parties since –third elections parliamentary 1994 the democracy. In multiparty representative other party having even a slightest chance for getting into the government, rather than a no with system a two-party confrontational and thesystem resembled unstable, formed were identification.” party and behavior for electoral factor in becomingand amotivating ‘shadow’ preventing their conflicts the parliamentary issueselections 1994blocked [of] notonly kept other but reform the process, agree on not developments. the major factions two could the since reforms the confrontation flexiblerather inits concessions and UDFwas unstable rather within, helpedkeep which to tuned down.in come.was yearsto BSP the atmosphere major political the two blocks shaped the between However, for in UDF the presidency altercations the candidate Onecould 1990elections. arguethat the this tension BSPcompromised the was first itprocesses, in asmuch could. for as its apparent It support did not allowMRF. governing withthe coalition a smooth processformed a 1991and in elections wonthe November parliamentary they UDF,after especially of Ibid. Ibid. Karasimeonov “The unresolved strugglefor ‘power’between UDF the and the BSPuntil the 47 46 45 As a result the subsequent governments that were that governments subsequent the result Asa In order to avoid de-communization anydrastic Into order 20 CEU eTD Collection 50 53 52 51 Macmillan, 1967 49 1992, page 7 48 nature of “any policy indecision which electedthose involved” are the itdetermines Furthermore, elections. very of these participants asthe as well process, system3. Theelectoral formula: “the simple-majority single-ballot system favours the two-party system” impact of the electoral the that main famously averred Duvergerinto has Maurice be three categories. divided system on party politics on issuethe itsnone influenceacademicliterature but can disregard particular, overall. The as a whole can beimpact electoral the system has internalon inpolitics general and onparty easily in politics expressed in determinesone specific that factor for key isthe opts thecountry system electoral particular that the argue further outcomes. Social scientists deliberate about the nature and level of the approach of Lipset and Rokkan underestimated it. and Rokkan underestimated Lipset of approach much“Duvergerelectoral influence forrolesystems”,thesociological of the too claimed it. modifies rather but determined, socially is which system, party entire the transform essentially and Rokkan, on the other hand, claim that the nature of the electoral system does not post-1989 period,post-1989 thereforms priortoitwill be consciously disregarded. the on concentrates primarily thesis this Since undergone. have systems these that changes function” will system political the system “how them of electoral andcomparenature defines the since the contrast Europe, and inboth Western and Eastern systems toanalyzetheexisting electoral importance utmost forces institutionalmerely as of butsocial product structures the of well” Farrel, David M., Ibid. 9 page Ware, and Reeve Duverger, Maurice, Duverger, Reeve, Andrew and Alan Ware, Alan and Andrew Reeve, Party Systems and Voter Alignments, The electoral system of a country establishes the winners and the losers of the election 50 Reeve and Ware assert that in recent years it became apparent that although that apparent became years itin that recent Ware assert and Reeve Comparing Electoral Systems Political Parties Political Electoral Systems: A Comparative and Theoretical Introduction , London: Methuen,1954, page 217 edited by Lipset,Seymour Martin and SteinRokkan, New York: Collier 53 . At the same time, one should focus on the nature of nature focusthe on should one time, same . Atthe , Prentice Hall: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1997, page 2 page 1997, Wheatsheaf, Harvester Hall: Prentice , 21 51 Parties, according to them, are “not them, are to according Parties, 48 52 . Reeve and Ware. Reeve and . Therefore, itis of , Routledge, 49 . Lipset . CEU eTD Collection electoral system that is used most frequently by European democracies by European frequently is most used system that electoral an was not Bulgaria exception. to bein their andinterest not” whichwould behavior “they of electorate, the made knowing decisions without which wouldrules turn out about the confident not were process decision-making in the participating elites Since the governments defeated in an election step down, losers are not punished by the winners, nor are defeated leaders defeated are nor winners, by the punished not are losers down, step election an in defeated governments (3) arrest; unwarranted against protected are they and of speech, freedom and ofassembly, right the press, the to access have they openly: support public seek to right the have government, existing ofte opponents chosenin competitive elections in which there are opposition political parties; (2) political parties, including 59 58 57 Publishers, 2000 election” free first the at gain would allies their and they votes many how of be confident “could ofthese deliberations participants of the None in discussions. round-table agreed upon of their own. subtypes having those of each with systems, voting representation proportional and systems most The commonly electoral two votingobserved (voting) systems are plurality-majority disproportionality. of and degree structures, the ballot formulae,and constituency electoral winners the determining andthelosers. 56 55 54 family of rules governing abroader encompasses law which electoral is of the part system The electoral allocated. the process of are arecastand seats elections” votes describes “how that rules is asetof an system electoral that successful can vary.analysis Iwill follow the definition presented by whostates Pennings, a for needed adopts itself,the one definition the components on depending concept since Weiner put forward the following criteria for states to be considered democratic: “(1) Government leaders are leaders Government “(1) democratic: beconsidered to states for criteria following the forward put Weiner Ibid., pages 12-13. 12. page Munro, and Rose See for instance Amy, Douglas J., Farrel Pennings, page 107. A preliminary reviewliterature hassuggested that proportional isrepresentation an After the collapse of the old regime, the new rules for upcoming elections were upcoming for elections new the rules of oldthe collapse regime, After the Before describing the electoral system of a country it is necessary to define the to necessary isit system a country of electoral the describing Before 56 Behind the Ballot Box: A Citizen’s Guide toVoting Systems 55 Electoral systems differ from each other by 58 22 . This was true all throughout the region and region the throughout all true was This . 54 . In other words, it is a mechanism of 59 . 60 Furthermore, , Praeger , 57 . CEU eTD Collection Eastern Europe) in Appendix 2 Appendix in Europe) Eastern 63 WashingtonDC, July 1990 through June 1990 62 Pavlovic, Goran Petrov, Despina Syrri, and David A. Stone, South-East European Research Centre, June 2005 61 Publishers, 2000 60 least during the first elections after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union.the other hand, most, if not all, countries in Central and Eastern Europe fell shortthe countriesof the criteria of Western Europeoutlined to (following refers above democracies’ the Coldat War ‘European term The logic) due definition. to their particular historicalof this democraticchoice the shaped traditions. topic on the review On is aware of the different definitions of democracy varying from electoral to liberal democracies, literatureWeiner and Ergun Özbudun, Duke University Press,1987, pages 4-5).Although the authorof presentthe paper Myron, “Empirical Democratic Theory”, in Theory”, Democratic “Empirical Myron, (Weiner, oligarchy” an or bureaucracy, the monarchy, the military, the to not electors, the to accountable are they and policies, make and power exercise they figure-heads; not are governments elected (4) process; punished unless in the act of governance they have brokenthe law, and their punishment is based on due units. territorial multi-mandated to according units territorial multi-mandated in representation proportional through half other the and regions, election Assembly National the wereof deputies 400 the of toHalf systems. be chosen representation proportional and majority of based on the majority principle (50 % + 1) in single-member system (Bulgaria included). blocs PR follow the both in majority of countries the that can be concluded It thus findings. This andfifteen Central European and Eastern countries. analysis hasconfirmed the previous well. as systems representation proportional mainly follow to are considered CEE of countries mainstream electoral trends. electoral mainstream their andto democracies European established Western tothe closer itbrought Bulgaria in system of electoral the nature the –thechangeof though isclear thing One implications. ititsisit limitations Due tothe assessbehind impossible paper, this of reasons the to and switch are debatable,a unifiedhavecome not and politicalscientists to far. conclusionso elections thishas changed, the and PRsystem. Bulgariaadopted The behind reasons this For the types of electoral systems in Europe refer to Table 1 (Western Europe) and Table 2 (Central and (Central 2 Table and Europe) 1 (Western to Table refer Europe in systems electoral of types the For instance Seefor See for instance Amy, Douglas J., Elections in Central and Eastern Europe: A Compendium of Reports on the Elections Held from March 61 In this paper I have analyzed the electoral systems employed in twenty-four Western As was mentioned earlier, initially Bulgaria adopted a mixed system. It was amixture amixedadopted It system. Bulgaria initially As wasmentioned earlier, , compiled by the staff of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Democratization inSouth East Europe: AnIntroduction toElection Issues 63 Behind the Ballot Box: A Citizen’s Guide toVoting Systems Competitive Elections in Developing Countries 23 62 But prior to the second , edited by Myron , edited by Dusan , Praeger , CEU eTD Collection 67 66 65 64 minimalistAlthough meaning sense. argueaboutthe scholars of term the precise 4. Voter turnouts in national elections the two, it is necessary to define the concept itself and explain the mechanism of calculating of mechanism the explain and itself concept the define to necessary is it two, the generalizingEuropean thoseor inblocs and ineither of thetwo about positioning Bulgaria majority of the European states have parliamentary systems of governance. sinceoverwhelming the presidential ones, than rather elections national the parliamentary on concentrate to chosen consciously I have paper the of chapter this In position. important upan trends take turnout voter politics, andelectoral literature onelectoral systems academic pool of vast In the gets. sample the more representative the elections, for thenational turnout possible” as close as get be to should aim “the time, same the at but, elections nation-wide any of outcome achievable an is sample’ ‘representative of population” sample’ the be a‘representative should “parliament the that idea in the lies elections in participation public of importance The argues that Frances Millard indicator of participation. important remains open. thingis One agreed uponby all scholars though-voterturnout is themost measure muchis‘enough’ andhow thisparticipation onhowto question However, the exist. ceaseto will democracy this very Without participation, aspect of representation. that the ability and the willingness on behalf of the voters to cast a vote constitute an integral Ibid. Farrel, page 6 Millard, page 73 See for instance Farrel, David M., The notion of representation is central to the definition of democracy even in its in even democracy of definition the to is central representation of notion The However, prior to engaging in a discussion about the general trends in voter turnouts general engaging invoter about the However,trends ina discussion to prior features of democratic development. population and democratic political asnecessary culture anengaged stressed for scholars who and legitimacy loss for politicians a fearing a cause both concern, of of from politics. In the new democracies, turnout also became alienation aboutpopular creating anxieties democracies, appears ofmanybe liberal to afeature …declining turnout Comparing Electoral Systems 24 66 . It would be absurd to arguea perfect that . Itwould beabsurdto 65 , Prentice Hall: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1997 67 . Basically, the higher the voter higher the the . Basically, 64 , it is clear it , CEU eTD Collection edited by Richard Rose, CQ Press, 2000 Election Laws in Democracies 70 69 68 of registered voters” casting of measured as percentage voters validandthe invalid dividedby ballots number the Parties, and Representation in Post-Communist Europe” by Millard. He states that “turnoutis in “Elections, provided definition following the outcome.be Iwill the itit,can affect since of independent variables were evaluated. Following a literature review on the topic, reviewonthe aliterature Following variables wereevaluated. independentof both anumbercountries and across time, turnout invoter across reasonsbehindvariations the in toassess variable.order dependentFurthermore, in waschosenasthe turnouts percentages voter of value numerical the purpose this For analysis. regression linear and functions in-built from across analyzeEurope tillMarch2007, using SPSS turnouts to 1989 voter scored below 75%, with Russia having only 54.3 %. butUkrainebelow Lithuania, averagedabove 75%, 85%; andRussia all Poland, Hungary, 85 %(Bulgaria in firstits national elections in showed 90.8%); 1990 Latvia, Estonia and above turnout hadavoter and Slovenia Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Republic, only Czech analysis, in his presented countries twelve From high. remained region the within differences by shows, as thedataaggregated Millard However, process. in decision-making engaged the be actively to population the willingness of the demonstrated firstcompetitive elections the Indeed states. satellite Soviet became countries respective their since elections and decisive democratic free, first werethe because those high turnouts tohave very Union were expected the year the tobe order ableidentify to within both trends each ‘camp’ in atseparately,large); and Europe electionsin CEE, or Europe (Western of country the location the as relevant: identified were variables took place (in order to control variations for time); was this the See for instance Massicotte, Louis, André Blais, and Antoine Yoshinaka, Antoine and Blais, André Louis, Massicotte, instance Seefor Ibid., page 75. Millard,page 294. In this chapter of thesisthe model deviseda comparative was usingtheSPSSprogram The first national elections held in the CEE countries after the collapse of the Soviet the of collapse the after countries CEE the in held elections national first The 68 . , University of Toronto Press, 2004, or 2004, Press, Toronto of University , 25 69 International Encyclopedia ofElections Establishing the Rules of theGame: 70 nine , CEU eTD Collection criteria for democracy outlined in the previous chapter with rare exceptions rare with chapter previous the in outlined democracy for criteria the meet not do they since omitted consciously were Union Soviet of former republics independent newly The Europe). Eastern and (Central Slovenia Slovakia, Serbia, Romania, Poland, Macedonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Estonia, Republic, Czech Croatia, Bulgaria, Herzegovina, and Bosnia Albania, Europe); (Western Portugal, San Marino,Norway, Spain,Netherlands, Sweden, Monaco, Malta, Switzerland,Luxembourg, UnitedLiechtenstein, Italy, Kingdom Ireland, ofIceland, Great Germany, BritainFrance, and Northern Ireland 71 of voting, logistical aspects the astheweather, canbeasfar-reaching of variation) the percent forty almost for account variables independent nine the (since turnouts voter the influence independent thatIhave variables voter Otherfactorsthatcould turnout. and chosen possibly the between correlation high very is a there that and chance, by be to results correlation virtually(significance of0.000)demonstrates no for thereare that score the possibilities F-test the of significance high the Furthermore, variables. independent nine mentioned above- tothe can beattributed continent across European the turnouts in voter variations rectify this problem.the chaper to for model constructed quantitative the into was introduced automatic registration Therefore, votes account the both cast, valid invalid,divided and numberofregisteredvoters. by the which isbeingfollowed in non-voters, since paperexcludesthis non-registered it into takes trends. electoral analyzing when consideration into be taken to are therefore, and rates, turnout voter the affect strongly variables these that is (proxy,voting, advanced, mobile andpostal voting and/or My stations). hypothesis working voting procedures special existence of andthe orcitizen-initiated); registration state- voter (is registration voter of easiness the duty; asocial itis considered or for non-voters penalties without loss of pay; existence of a law for employees off is time there is weekdays, ifiton weekday); or (weekend election the day on compulsory voting; region); in the prevail to if continued have such turnouts high a similarly lawor voters, the exists, of enthusiasm are there post-independence to related mainly were elections first in the turnouts high whether country’s first election since independence (primarily relevant for CEE, in order to see The countries that were analyzed in the project are Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Denmark, Cyprus, Belgium, Austria, Andorra, are project the in analyzed were that countries The After runningit themodel,became less slightly evident that thanforty percent of the 26 71 It is worth mentioning that the definition CEU eTD Collection 72 is still a true representative ofits geographical location. in Bulgaria values, actual of terms However, in percentages. decline average tothe comes on it when trend European Western the following less or more is case Bulgarian the Overall, CEE region they had signified changeandabreak with by pastthe contested so many. elections after 1989for Western Europeans were ordinary as as they were before, while inthe firstfact the that tothe be Thiscan ones. attributed certainly very 1989 andrecent the after firstelections between the turnouts voter of values numerical inthe differences drastic experiences. very undergone similar itismention important to thethat decline wasgradual. countries Other in the region have At samethe if elections. first tothe time, elections compared witnessed only55.8%turnout) countriesin other CEEregion,the andhas(last parliamentary asharpexperienced decline many as independence, after elections national first in the %) (90.8 turnout voter high very instance, has off each within great degree of For Bulgaria started of with variations them.a a is There overall. patterns regional analyzes one when only however, true, holds proposition undergone abigger decline,itstill butbe consideredcannot highly influential %). (1.376 This is Western Europe experiencing anon-significant decline of 0.153 %;CEEcountries have individual countries. For instance, contrary to what most researchers claim, voter turnout in Europe(seeFigure canbe in Differences Eastern only observed of and 1). terms trends trends. turnout voter of analysis for the importance andrelevance great are of thismodel for were chosen that variables independent it beaverredthat the can Consequently, and others. apathy, general political Forexample the first elections in Romania had witnessed 76.3 % turnout, while the last ones only 58.5 % In terms of turnout averages, there is hardly any difference between Western and Western between difference any hardly is there averages, turnout of terms In 72 In the countries of Western Europe there were no were there Western Europe of countries Inthe 27 CEU eTD Collection (4) No committee member may accompany voter. a may accompany member No committee (4) (3) No person shall be allowed to accompany morethe records. in than case two the specify voters.and column signature the in cross a write shall member committee a personally, signing from voter the prevents handicap physical the Where name and personal identification numberof the accompanying person in the Notes columnof the election roll. shall be finally resolved by the District Election Committee. In suchcases, the Committee shall specify help the the latter. Where the decisionof the Chairperson on is challenged actions voting by a member required of the thehis Committee,or perform herto own, the the Chairpersonunable dispute is and of the person Committee may allow handicapped an accompanyingphysically person a is designatedvoter the by Where the voter (2) to (1) Votes shall be cast personally. 88 Article reasons: physical 73 democracies. European asfor theWestern CEEregion, aswell the for very atypical is employed which inBulgaria, procedures wereno there such conducted, thiswas research timethe when at Unfortunately, %. increase by5.365 tend to turnouts voter the procedures voting special have do that in countries that revealed has model the Furthermore, turnout. voter valueof numerical increasethe it they in that all can be averred Europe, voter turnouts variables on of at looks if independent impact these the variables. However, one independent for This all constructedEurope. with of anumericalvalue averagesof zero was the diagram states European Western 2– Series states 1–CEE Series 1: VoterFigure turnout trends on average inWestern Europeand in CEE The 2001 Elections of Members of Parliament Act specifies the regulations for those who cannot vote due to due vote cannot who forthose regulations the Act specifies ofParliament ofMembers Elections 2001 The voter turnout 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% The graph presented above demonstrates relatively low averages for both ‘camps’ in ‘camps’ for both averages low relatively above demonstrates presented The graph 0% 1 3 5 years passed from 1989 from passed years voter turnout trends 7 9 113 11 28 15 17 Series2 Series1 73 State- CEU eTD Collection on May on 9, 2007. http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/legislationAll.asp?country=bulgaria&legislation=bg2001 Communist Europe, University of Essex, < 2001 Elections of Members of Parliament Act, Political Transformation and Electoral Process inPost- State Gazette not later than 55 The days in them prior promulgate to and the election papers day. ballot ofthe specimens the endorse shall Republic of the President The (3) (2) Elections shall be country. scheduled whole the by for day the President of a non-working the Republic on be held not shall later than 60 days Elections (1) prior to the electionday. 75 law. this of enforcement the loosen to states European Western among 74 May on 9, 2007. http://www2.essex.ac.uk/elect/database/legislationAll.asp?country=bulgaria&legislation=bg2001 Communist Europe, University of Essex, < 2001 Elections of Members of Parliament Act, Political Transformation ofvotes and Electoral counting Process the and inPost- process shall be voting prohibited. the during premises voting the outside boxes of ballot taking The (8) (7) Voters shall be prohibited to take envelopesbe allowed. shall and ballots outside. premises voting the outside voting No (6) inside. is voter a when booths voting the from metres three than ofless a distance at stay to be allowed shall vote their casting voters than other No persons (5) by %. 4.95 turnouts an increase invoter to legislatures leads European a law on compulsory voting proved beto non-significant, its presence in some of the Western of existence the Although states. CEE and European Western both the of majority follow overwhelming Bulgaria in procedures registration, voter of terms In registration. initiated From %). all countries includedthe inthis study onlyFrance andhave Portugal citizen- significantly registration automatic voter voter turnouts increases (by also initiated 18.866 Members of Parliament Act are conducted on non-workingon days are conducted Act Members of Parliament % 2001Elections7.271 average.Since electionsof in on tothe according Bulgaria, time off for the employees without loss of pay is highly significant and leads an to increase of legislation stipulating presence the a that of wasdemonstrated It category. ‘Europeanized’ time off for the employees without loss of pay. Here as well, the Bulgarian case falls into having Netherlands, Norway,UK only with Norway and Netherlands the and Macedonia, the only Across electionsEurope 0.69. areconducted on weekdays inonly Denmark, Ireland, the Surprisingly,5.702 %. a significantfactor, since isnot this thescoresofsignificance were by increaseweekends, on turnouts the areconducted national elections wherethe countries In Europe. across Day theElection of analysis the from revealed were results interesting Article 5: None of the countries in CEE have a law on compulsory voting. Furthermore, as studies reveal there is a trend 29 75 , this variable was not 74 Furthermore, >, last accessed last >, accessed last >, CEU eTD Collection 76 not. than states Europeanized are more affecting category factors the of fallingvoter into turnouts and to thetechnicalities electoral pertaining trends that canconclude functions,in-built one runwith regression SPSS from results linear the stated above the Overall, Poland). given Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria,Greece, Iceland, Cyprus, (Andorra, thirty-nine in have countries analyzed study twelvethis donot special voting procedures mainstream short of standards when itEuropean –fromcomes tospecial voting procedures missing at the time of the compilation of the dataset); as was mentioned earlier, Bulgaria falls registration, registration information was Slovenia on tothe with process voter while regards following voting state-initiated registration (France and Portugal hold citizens responsible for not were aswell in countries entireextremely ‘Westernized’ – only dataset the three in days; registration Bulgariavs.voter of terms (state- procedures citizen-initiated), is non-working for scheduled elections national have states CEE and European Western both Day, muchBulgariaisvery ‘Europeanized’, since the majority overwhelming of in countries of in Election terms be averred: can thefollowing Europe, Western with Bulgaria for data the valid.if oftheindependent Generally, variables looks at each and separately one compares Fordetailed results of the quantitative model referto Table 3 in the Appendix 3 76 30 CEU eTD Collection protection of minorities, were never even set for the EU-15. the for set even never were minorities, of protection the namely, thesegoals, someof yet and 50years, hadaround states ‘core’ the similar goals that the standards and goals setin the argue and Vachudova be severe.Moravcsik could times which at membership, of costs their 81 80 79 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/europe/euro-glossary/1216329.stm 78 East European Politics and Societies 77 countries” particular for ill suited or economies, transitional to unsuited considered, ill appear even wereapplied. standards states the‘core’ –double for themselves than those higher considerably join Union, were the to applicants the for prerequisites the was oneof thelongover budget run” national the to returns “substantial bring applicants, the for importantly more and, institutions democratic requirements andfull membership subsequent weregenerally enhance to acknowledged TheEUpre-accession question pre-requisites. of found viability these forcesthe to were no political goal integration intheEUasan and,membership consequently,ultimate and nopolitical elites and/or parties were presenton politicalthe spectrum European oppose to toEurope’, for after to aspire the‘return but thecollapse bipolar the of by world states these considered were options other no Since EU. the join to willingness their expressed members deliberations 5.1 Academic 5. Euroscepticism politically vulnerable vulnerable politically countries” and economically cost on alargeadjustment “impose capitalism, market to their transition Ibid., page 47. Ibid., page 46-47. 46. page Vachudova, and Moravcsik The entire body of the European laws – Euro Glossary, BBC News World Edition, < Enlargement”, EU and Power, State Interests, “National Vachudova, Anna Milada and Andrew, Moravcsik, With the political and economic benefits, however, the applicant states had to bear the bear to had states applicant the however, benefits, economic and political the With With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact most of the former 80 . The economic reforms set by the EU that the applicant states must complete in must complete states applicant by the EUthat set the economic reforms . The 17, 2003, page 47. 81 . Abovehowever, all,“the intrusive verification procedures 77 acquis communautaire, acquis . 31 >, last accessed on December 28, 2006 28, December on accessed last >, 79 a full implementation of of which implementation full a Furthermore, “some EUrules “some Furthermore, 78 To achieve To CEU eTD Collection positions on clear“in and took referendums which wasshapedbypublic debate Euroscepticism parties the EU” member-states inEU namely the Finland, Norway, and1992, Austria, context of Sweden, Democrats of Norway, and others. of Norway, Democrats Centre the in France, Front National the Finland, in Alliance Leftist The Denmark, in Union Austrian Freedom Party, the Flemish Bloc in Belgium, People’s Movement Against EC- the limited to are not but include, Those countries. European in Western the discourse as an “over-extension ideathe integration”of of European itby criticsTreaty, Maastrichtthe since was regarded the in opposition of the to context the from an issue in concern Western of Europe Initially early itpressing the was framed 1990s. was Euroscepticism time, same Atthe way round. other was the it or elites, political certain of outlook of Eurosceptic weretheresult popularwhether the todepict attitudes attempts rising. if wouldof levelsound likeone the and egg started chicken the It argument the in both popularof of attitudes on accession CEE states 2004,Eurosceptic and political ten labeled been as membershipinmembershiphavefuture it. Thosecritics pre-requisites country’s and their the about having reservations started andorganizations parties numberpolitical of increasing an tangible, not still benefits but the became more apparent costs as the period, the transition of from beginning the adecade after somewhere However, of accession. costs the outweighed benefits the masses, general the extent some to and, region the of elites political the of 370-371 85 84 Systems”, 83 82 forfollowblow national pride” areatough that standards these For the full list of Eurosceptic political parties in Western Europe as for1998, Ibid., pagerefer 367 to Taggart, 1998, pages Party European Western Contemporary in Euroscepticism of Dissent: “A Touchstone Paul, Taggart, 47. page Vachudova, and Moravcsik With the start of the enlargement policies of the EU, and especially with the first wave European Journal ofPolitical Research Eurosceptics. 84 . Taggartprovides alistof political had partiesthat Eurosceptic 85 Furthermore, according to the surveys of the of surveys the to according Furthermore, 33, May 1998, pages 363 – 388, page366 32 83 . For the countries that were not were that countries the For . 82 . Despite these, in the eyes CEU eTD Collection 90 89 Referendums Network Working Paper No and 12, August 2003 Elections Parties European No 69, Paper Working Institute European Sussex Causality”, and Measurement 88 and 7 and 87 86 definition are apparent. in EU particular” the to opposition and general in integration toEuropean opposed bundleattitudes of adisparate all term encapsulating catch- be usedasageneric, to tends “Euroscepticism Nowadays, concept. than academic an rather jargon came asajournalistic first forward term the that can assert one Consequently, Europe. continental with ties closer over herconcerns viewing Thatcher Margaret refer to theirmembership country’s in EUas the a ‘bad thing’. Commission of the European Communities as of 1995, thirty-three percent of Swedes viewed and unqualified opposition of process the to integration”European “expresses theideaor qualifiedcontingent of incorporating opposition, aswell as outright exclusive.further term EUsinceitthe is suggests thatthe too Taggart Euroscepticism skeptical inclusive;itis EUsincethe of notin too principle but anti-integration,skeptical of but inanti-integration, principal not anti-EU; therefore, and EU:anti-integration, the towards basedpositions Euroscepticism integrates differentthree Euroscepticism. Heargues that of itsor demonstrate those, uniqueness. ineither Bulgaria ‘camps’, aswell as position in two patterns the inEurosceptic differences utmost importance to itis of in and CEEstates, both Western European is apparent onthe arena attitudes political analyze these attitudesdepicted in the UK, Spain, Denmark, Austria, and Finland.thoroughly Since the relevance of Eurosceptic and depict the similarities and the Ibid. Taggart, 1998, page 366 Szczerbiak, Aleks, and Paul Taggart, “Theorising Party-Based Euroscepticism: Problems of Definition, Flood, C., “Euroscepticism: A Problematic Concept”, Paper presented to the UACES 32 Taggart, 1998, page 375 th Research Conference, Queen’s University Belfast, September 2002 September Belfast, University Queen’s Conference, Research In the academic literature Paul In theacademicTaggart literature The term Euroscepticism first appearedin 33 89 was the first one to attempt to defineattempt party- firstone to wasthe 88 The TimesofLondon , and hence, difficulties with the precise the with difficulties hence, and , 86 Similarly high percentages were high percentages Similarly 90 . Until Taggart’s first . Until Taggart’s as early as 1986 to nd Annual Conference 87 CEU eTD Collection April, 2001, Manchester. Central and Eastern Europe”,Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of StudiesPolitical Association, 10-12 92 1. page Tennessee, International Conference of Europeanthe UnionStudies Association, March 27-29, 2003 in Nashville, 91 arethose in Europe classify parties mainEurosceptic models to two as The a whole. Europe let alonein separately, or in Europe in Western politicalparties CEEstates the incorporate Kopecky Szczerbiak and/or and Mudde. and of Taggart that from analysis their have of extensively; most them derived concept the Karen Henderson, Jack Bielasiak, Timm Beichelt, Gary Marks et al and others have analyzed from of and criticism predominantly the Taggart’s party-based Szczerbiak’s. Euroscepticism model of their Kopecky and Muddederived conceptualization. Taggart’s and Szczerbiak’s Anumber sprungintothe Euroscepticism –‘hard’ of from academic works two and ‘soft’. of concept the and Szczerbiak whentheybroke by later Taggart conceptualized couldlevels be potentially degreesof different and/or was Euroscepticism. This there that implies Taggart by definition original the Interestingly, in particular. integration in of process European generalandthe concerningthe EU criticism region within theCEE specifically. Such an amendment to the original definition came as a result of rising levels Szczerbiak by andAleks proposed Taggart Paul of European integration to thewithin Union” identify to adversaries term been had the used Before, debatein meaning. new the a entered developing his original concept. and on Taggart scientistsworked Afterwards, otherpolitical many continental the Europe. further integration with British opposition to tothe term publication the specifically referred Szczerbiak, Aleks and Paul Taggart, “Parties, Positions and Europe: Euroscepticism in the Candidate States of States Candidate the in Euroscepticism Europe: and Positions “Parties, Taggart, Paul and Aleks Szczerbiak, Beichelt, Timm, “Nationalism and anti-EU Mobilization in Postsocialist Europe”, Paperfor the Eight Biennial None of the models present in the academic literature so far can be generalized to notion Euro-skepticism of decade, the last the half second of “in only However, the 91 34 . A further elaboration of this definition was definition this elaboration of . Afurther 92 who adjusted it to refer to the CEE region CEU eTD Collection Hungarian Europragmatic by Kopecky Europragmatic byKopecky and Mudde – the fullysame EU have political supportthe identifiedas aninstitution. as time parties been Two integration,at seemsA but bethe cannot European illogical.Europragmatists party against Mudde. I have identifiedMany scholars have voiced their criticisms about the classification suggested by Kopecky and three of those fully model either. this is not applicable showedthat has acloser examination However, as the most relevantitsuccessfully. into canbeplotted theregion of parties political the think that to inclined is ones. Firstly, the category of 98 97 96 Taggart and Szczerbiak: Taggart a whole. Kopeckyand Mudde summarized the main criticisms of model the by proposed Criticisms can be drawn with regards bothto models, and none are applicable to the region as in East Central Europe”, 95 94 93 and Szczerbiak of Taggart Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Kopecky, Petr and Cas Mudde, “The Two Sides of Euroscepticism: Party Positions on European Integration European on Positions Party ofEuroscepticism: Sides Two “The Mudde, Cas and Petr Kopecky, For adetailed description of the model referto Appendix 5 For adetailed description of the model referto Appendix 4 3. 4. 1. 2. At samethe looking time, when model atthe presented byKopecky and Mudde,one for criteriathe thetwo arevague of unclear types and Euroscepticism the ideas the integration of andUnion as its European embodimentEuropean the typestwo of Euroscepticism “doenoughnot do justice” to the distinction between Eurosceptic to theEUcanbeclassifiedas related disagreements with anything or reservations the definition of ‘soft Euroscepticism’ is so broad that almost anyone who has any by principled objectionsthe to ‘inEuroscepticism blurred whenarguethat can be identified hard authors the practice later is Euroscepticism ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ between distinction clear relatively “the Independent Smallholders Party Independent Smallholders 95 European Union Politics ; 93 on the one hand, Kopecky onthe andMudde and one the current form , volume 3 (3), 2002, pages297-326, page 300. . Nevertheless, as Taggart and Szczerbiak have and Szczerbiak as Taggart . Nevertheless, 35 Movement for aDemocratic for Movement Slovakia of European integration in the EU’” 97 94 ; on other. the on 98 . and the and 96 ; CEU eTD Collection Eurosceptic candidate for joining the EU, at least for joining theEU,at Euroscpeticism. interms of party-based candidate Eurosceptic Party-Based Euroscepticism inthe Candidate States of Central and Eastern Europe” in 102 signed in2005. Bulgaria officially joined the EU Januaryon 1, 2007 was Treaty Accession The in2004. concluded and 2000 in opened were negotiations Accession 1997. in country 101 100 99 alone Western Europe. It has been widely acknowledged that Bulgaria caseofBulgaria 5.2 The party-based Euroscepticism,in which parties will be classified on a ‘more or less’ continuum. Consequently,across Europe. in employ thispaperIwill a qualitative methodof assessing forframework comparing andcontrasting varying degrees of Euroscepticism in party politics one no be can there above, shown was As opposition. very this of degrees varying the by proposed Kopecky and Muddeis tooinclusive aswell, since itnot does take intoaccount Eurosceptics of category the Therefore, theterm. of definition original the implied from are AsEuroscepticism of degrees confusion. earlier, wasmentioned initEurosceptics promotes an institution and integration, theof process European it or is not;thequadranthas that the clear – a party is either a Euroreject, i.e. against the core principles underlying both the EU as is arerequired.While further fairly conceptof specifications Eurorejects the Eurorejects, and Eurosceptics into EU the integration and European of process the critiques of categorise”make that extremely difficult them positionsto onEurope in argued Europragmaticwork, are not “havethose but rather their inessence, subsequent within it” “does not really capture the full range of different approaches to the EU that are encompassed definition Kopecky and Muddehave Euroenthusiaststhe providedis for inclusive. tooIt Szczerbiak and Taggart, 2003, page9 See for example Taggart, Paul and Aleks Szczerbiak, “Europeanisation, Euroscepticism and Party Systems: Party and Euroscepticism “Europeanisation, Szczerbiak, Aleks and Paul Taggart, example Seefor Bulgaria officially submitted its application forEU membership in1995 and was recognized as a candidate Ibid. The case of Bulgaria is truly unique. It does not resemble any other CEE country, let 100 . Thirdly,Kopecky although category Mudde break and broad the the of down 36 Pan-European 99 101 . Secondly, the Secondly, . was theleast was 102 CEU eTD Collection 108 2005”, EPERN, University of Sussex,Sussex European Institute coalition is highly my a inessence,Euroenthusiastic one in whichwouldclaim support that Interestingly, in. madeit actually of for in seats Assembly, which seven National competed Bulgarian the while some parties from were either start the orformed campaigning together in acoalition once parliament. may havecoalitions at that not and if separately at looks political the parties apparent one especially platforms is This of Euroscepticism. party-based degree some canencounter specifically one platforms with a Euroscepticmembership were not issuesparliamentary totheelections inpertaining country’sfuture time atthat 2005, very outlook, visible life” in political present not is integration andEuropean rejecting completely not theirsalient at all, is a‘political confineddeclaring outlook idea to aprofoundly “TheEurosceptic of suicide’. party political any arena, political Bulgarian the affairson of state current the account panacea to all the ills of the society Bulgariansthat hopethe EUwill “fixBulgaria up”,and they generally EUasa regard the and the country as a whole. 107 106 105 104 Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The interview was conducted in Sofia, on April 12, 2007 103 Society, the Brill, Netherlands, 2003. Politics, onParty Perspectives yet” present “substantially party-basedthat isEuroscepticism in process the formation inof but Bulgaria,not majority being theoverwhelming EU, thus of areEurooptimists. inthe them secure feelmore parties Turkey, political bordering its location strategic geopolitics. Dueto Academy of Sciences, stated that one of the reasons for this can be found in Bulgarian Dr. Agop Garabedyan, the Director of the Institute of Balkan Studies of the Bulgarian Ibid., page 7. Savkova, Lyubka, “Election Briefing No. 21: Europe and the Parliamentary 4. page Election Beichelt, in Bulgaria, 25 Ibid. Ibid. Personal interview with Dr. Agop Garabedyan, the Director of the Institute of BalkanStudies of the In the last national elections in 2005, twenty-two political parties and coalitions edited by Paul Lewis and Paul Webb, Perspectives on European Politics and Politics European on Perspectives Webb, Paul and Lewis by Paul edited 104 . This could probably be attributed, according to him, to the fact the him, to according to beattributed, . This probably could 37 107 although when analyzing party analyzing when although 105 Furthermore, takinginto 106 . During the last the During . 103 He claimed He th June 108 CEU eTD Collection producer andproducer businessman until levelof the social security of Bulgarians equals thatof and must producers investor, businessmen anyforeign over investors, haveadvantages a Bulgarian priority take in international membership organization; that any any over land. In the In land. nationalization of property and its denial of the right of foreigners to purchase agricultural of its promotion market, single of the European its rejection because of Attack emerged Nevertheless, it is important to mention that none had a profound Eurosceptic outlook. analyzeof if one paper individual this to the platforms tried political of andparties coalitions. strategically would shapingconsiderations driven beyond arena.It political the go scope the the of evidence another – opposition) or (government position their on depending platforms their change political parties some change. Moreover, wouldmembership and integration further of benefits the towards rhetoric its opposition, into go would change. not did objective foreign policy main the center-right), or (center-left coalition governing the of orientation political of the EUmembership,the which in has turn shaped form currentthe of Regardlessparty politics. towards wasoriented politics from 1990s the Bulgarian of beginning the mentioned earlier, Asit. was of varying degrees refer to to is important it in Bulgaria, Euroscepticism about that the Bulgarian foreignservice follows orwill be was following This in the ahead. coming years. challenges also future confirmed and by community all the MPs European interviewed.the within None goals of the them mentioned around an unambiguousrevolve it about foreigntalks policy objective 110 plays animportant role in their party platforms. political parties that are strategicallyWhereas goals. ideological driven wanttheir pursue to to attract voters voters lose to atready are any parties cost. these Surprisingly, time, same the At the use themselves. of ideology Ideologically drivenparties are committed to their constituencies that are committed to these ideological values 109 Bulgaria are party on Europe predominantly position strategically driven. As Bulgaria joined the EU in January 2007, there is no clear foreign policy objective formulated yet. All the All yet. formulated objective policy foreign clear no is there 2007, January in EU the joined Bulgaria As Euroscepticism. party-based analyzing in importance ofgreat is debate strategy vs. ideology The The only political party that could be called Eurosceptic to some extent issomenewly the to extent couldbe Eurosceptic called that party The onlypolitical Twenty Principles of the Party Attack Twenty Principlesof 110 At the same time, once a particular political party political aparticular same once the At time, 38 it is stated that national interests should 109 When talking CEU eTD Collection < Committee of the Bulgarian Science National and Assembly.of Education aMember and TheCulture, interviewfor Commission was conductedParliamentary Permanent inof the Sofia, Chairman on April 12, 2007 116 115 114 research is required to rightly classify party.the 113 112 December25, 2006. 111 is Kazak, a who Tchetin Mr. instance, For arena. political the on present of Euroscepticism degree apparent isno there claimed that parties political of other representatives Interestingly, join EU. to the if wanted asked they never were Bulgarians ordinary that fact was the Stanilov, to according emergence, its to contributed that factor Another arena. political the on Euroscepticism emergence of the ledto destroyed, which country got the UDF government, first leadership the during Kostov’s under industry of that asaresultprivatization of stated elections. nextnational the but towards more radical moderate more becomeit not and,will arguably, discourse has ahighly Eurosceptic party Despite this, the former the to closer be to with atendency ‘hard’‘soft’ Euroscepticism and falling between somewhere rather butand Szczerbiak, definedbyTaggart as political party isa hardEurosceptic Attack not integration” European and EU the to opposition principled “a definition earlier,by and the Euroscepticism of ‘hard’ Szczerbiakincludes provided Taggart and against plant. ItalsoisBulgaria’s infavor of further Europeanintegration defending while national the interests communautaire exclusion fromprovided thatnational must a interests priority take and certain of provisions the the broader asawhole, membership Bulgarian did party advocate the sametime, atthe However, Europeanforeigners.be sold to landcannot agricultural Bulgarian Western that averageEuropeans; politics. As was mentioned http://www.ataka.bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=43 Personal interview with Dr. Stanislav Stanilov, Memberof Parliament from the Coalition Attack, A more elaborateVice discussionon the discourse of the Coalition Attack will appear in the following sections One of the reasons forthis is that it sends conflicting political messages. empirical further therefore, term; of the definition original inthe implied are ofEuroscepticism Degrees Taggart and Szczerbiak, 2001, page7 The Twenty Principles Dr. Stanislav Stanilov, who is a Member of Parliament from the Coalition Attack, Coalition the from Parliament of Member a is who Stanilov, Stanislav Dr. should including be there-negotiated, closure ofKozlodouy nuclear power 113 can be accessed in Russian on the official website of the party, of the website official on the Russian in be accessed can . It is a party whose political ideology . Itisis ideology formation in aparty process of the political whose 39 112 115 . Therefore, I argue that I argue . Therefore, >, last accessed on accessed last >, acquis 114 116 111 . CEU eTD Collection However, if one looks at the averages of percentages in the CEE region of who of in region people CEE the percentages averages of atthe if onelooks However, attest that Bulgaria is well above the averages in the EU-15 and in the CEE countries as in membership that EUreceivesfrom the population the (Figure 2below) can one well.easily Romania. after inEurope of rate Euroenthusiasm highest hasfrom hadthesecond 2001 Bulgaria have revealed thatstarting surveysEurobarometer the levels, popular and political both on Euroenthusiasm of rates highest the has demonstrating relatively high Althoughsupport. some researchers have claimed thatBulgaria emerge as a salientissue in municipal upcomingthe elections in September 2007. will any and if Itall,would observehow, Euroscepticism be interestingat EU at to cost. since consensusthe among themain revolved actors political around thegoal of entering the Euroscepticism. foundation very Bulgariastated that party-based for hasthedeveloping a strong in as well. Bulgaria emerge will party-based Euroscepticism EU, the itscoalition andinforms the full responsibility benefitsjoining peopleof takes up the about samethe time,Mr.Kazak, stating theposition hisof party, averred unless that governingthe in is Euroscepticism trend Atwith a growing exception CEE states notable Bulgaria.of the with supporters party-based that Hefurther truly Eurosceptic outlook. a attested data on others 120 119 118 conducted in Sofia,on April 11, 2007 was interview The Parliament. of European Member anObserver and Freedoms, and Rights for Movement the 117 yetEurosceptic” not “Bulgarians are that Rights and Freedoms, as well asMember an Observer of MemberParliament of the European and Parliament,the Secretary claimed of the Parliamentary Group of the Movement for The results from Turkey are not taken into account due to lack of information on some questions and missing Personal interview Dr.with Agop Garabedyan Ibid. of Group Parliamentary the of Secretary of Parliament, Member Kazak, Dr. Tchetin with interview Personal In terms of In hasbeen of toward EU,theBulgarian the terms popular attitudes population 119 Till now Euroscepticism was not a salient issue in the electoral campaigns electoral in the issue a salient not was Euroscepticism now Till 117 40 , and thus no political party itsprovides 120 Looking averagesupportat the 118 Garabedyan also Garabedyan CEU eTD Collection Source: Candidate Countries Eurobarometer 2004.1 Eurobarometer Countries Candidate Source: Union?) European of the amember being (Question: Taking everything into consideration, would you say that Bulgaria could get advantages or not from Figure 3: Assessing the attitudes of the people regarding the potential benefits from membership in the EU Source: European Commission: Public Opinion Analysis (Eurobarometer) thing’ for their country) Figure 2:Support forEUmembership (percentage of respondents saying that membership in theEU is a‘good demonstrates very similar tendencies with the other CEE states (Figure 3 below). claimed that their country would benefitfrom the accession into the Union, Bulgaria 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 0% 2001 Support for EU membership 2002 spring 2003 41 autumn 2003 spring 2004 CEE EU-15 Bulgaria CEU eTD Collection getting into it. account in this paper, localsince electionsin afterwards, contested himself but wasGanchev I notrefer able Ganchev. George to pass leader theits forrequired support only threshold. of lines the Therefore,along split party BBBthe to and will notactor bethose takeninto parties that are Bulgaria a candidate as country currently(Beichelt,2003).However, after1997 BBB stopped being a relevantpolitical in Parliamentbefore Bulgaria submitted itsapplicationfor EU membership,year and1997- a whenthe EU recognized or have fair chancesentirety Bulgarianis the Business BlocorBBB. approximately Ithad nationalyearof the vote5 %1994 -a in of 121 Euroscepticism. of terms party-based in inclinations similar demonstrate Bulgaria, of with exception the CEE states, European and Western both Interestingly, trends. European follow mainstream the not Bulgaria does Euroscepticism inparty-based of terms averthat can one Consequently, Netherlands. The and France in Constitution European the for rejection of vote the during culmination its but a few. At the same time, party-basedMovement Euroscepticism for a Democratic Slovakia; League of Polish Families and and Self-Defense, Party isNational toname Slovak evidentParty; Life and Justice in Hungarian and Western Party Smallholders Party; Europe, with CEE states at least one party is considered to be profoundly Eurosceptic – Greater Romanian CEE countries the Latvia. of NewEra the for example, than, presenceits discourse of Eurosceptic of only chapters entireandcertain makes notthe of in project a less EU, which itEurosceptic political re-negotiation whichadvocates Attack, of exception parties with the outlook, Eurosceptic profound is strongly felt. In virtually all The only political formation that at least comes close torejecting the notions of Euro-integrationin its As was mentioned earlier, no political parties on the Bulgarian political arena have a 42 121 It is worth mentioning that in other that mentioning worth is It CEU eTD Collection literature, Iwillliterature, by follow Capotorti. thedefinition Fracesco proposed in term manythe of academic the While awareof the definitions theirpolitics. on party concentrating and minorities the in identifying help would This ‘minorities’. of concept the of in in Europe general. both; model and is the of of relations ethnic uniquenotonly inBulgaria CEEregion,but the from differs drastically andCEE Western states, European both commonalities many with the despite caseof the Bulgaria, that will be argued It countries. in respective the formations and parties demandsof ethnic the the will analyze I Secondly, elections. national last in countries the inthe respective of parties political electoral ethnic the the contrast results and compare will I Firstly, areas. main two around evolve will comparison This Macedonia. Some Western Europe. bedrawnfrom examples ethnic Albaniansin caseof the will as representing andSlovakia representingSpain, the region CEE, andRomania,as of in parties political ethnic of of activities the analysis from a comparative mainly generate will assessment The ethnic of politics. interms of Bulgaria Westernization, or Europeanization, position of Bulgaria in toboth. comparison This would alsoenable me analyze to thelevel of the assess me help will which other, the on states CEE and hand, one the on Europe Western comparative framework Iwill compare the nature of the Bulgarian ethnic politics with that of of the Turkish minority as opposed to the Roma, for instance. Since this thesis is based on a on the case concentration behind myspecific reasons andgive inBulgaria minorities national 6. Ethnic politics For a successful analysis of ethnic minority politics, one must look into the definition the into look must one politics, minority ethnic of analysis a successful For In this chapter I will first provide the reader with an overview of general statistics on rest of rest of the populationif and who, implicitly,only maintain of those from the the which differ linguistic characteristics or religious ethnic, possess members whose position, non-dominant a in and State a of population the of rest A minority is which a group is numerically inferior to the 43 CEU eTD Collection 123 Institute of Peace Press,1996, pages 10-11 122 this chapter. Spain, Hungarians in and Romania Slovakia, andAlbanians in Macedonia foras case studies in in Turks Basques choice canexplainthe of the BasedBulgaria, on one this definition to achieve its goals. In the CEE region, the case of former Yugoslavia is consciously removed illustrative caseof inthem all – only Spain afraction formations ethnicof violence resorts to any other Western to Spainwaspreferred caseof Overall,the Europe. Western in arule exception than rather Europeanand democracylegally it formally Although ethnic France minorities, doesnot consciously hassizeable disregarded. acknowledge due to the independencefact their that movement, itpresence orderwhichis isthe beyond tomost theon assessscope in Furthermore, ones. the ethnic andreligious extreme of acombination butrather cleavage, ethnic of an of this French thesis.the andThenature caseterritory. in anoutcome balanced isnotonly Ireland,Northern the nature; caseof politics ethnic while of France ofwas relatively a has Belgium ethnic of politics ethnic the meantime, the In in Spain. formation or But politicsthis party ethnic other any than level anational on sentiments is negative more much incite parties more in theof UK,an inonecleavage activities ismuch Also,the of Basquecase stronger. the Basquepolitical the must the of intensity the that fact the to due is example, for goCatalans, than rather Spain in backBasques to the on concentration The theRomania. and Slovakia of that to similar dimension, Irishperiphery follows the center- in fact ethnic Spain the that cleavage the UK due to Belgium and the of tothat preferred was Spain The caseof basedethnicity. on parties formation political of the to led which societies, respective in the cleavages ethnic existing are there fact that by the Due to the limitations of this paper, other ethnic minorities and their politics is not taken into account Apud Lapidoth, Ruth, It is important to mention that the selection of these particular case studies is justified is studies case particular these of selection the that mention to important is It 123 culture, traditions, religion or language. or religion traditions, culture, a sense of solidarity directed towards preserving their Autonomy:Flexible Solutions to Ethnic Conflicts 44 122 , Washington, DC: United Nations CEU eTD Collection Organizations, and Parties Press, 2006; or Bugajski, Janusz, 125 124 bevirtually will secondcriterion case,the in Bulgarian the However, interests. ethnic party represents from minority;the ismainly party and/or the ethnic effectively the derived review, literature substantive After a ethnic party. an criteria of the concerning literature inthevacuum mainstream it. for evidence empirical show works existing the literature on the topic departs from the assumption that MRF is an ethnic formation, none of empiricallyto thatMRFisprove party apolitical of ethnicminority.the Although academic political parties is legallynot banned. Consequently, my of one major in tasks this chapter is elements 6.1 Comparative in Bulgaria. political parties Pomaks, as well, wassuccessfulin and preventing the mushrooming Turkish of other Muslims, support from within Bulgarian get the support and ethnic the minority consolidate to MRFisable andthe Romaparties, political Unlike well-organized. deeply-rooted are that structures administrative has MRF non-formal, time that at Although era. Zhivkov influential.active,Finally, and history of the Turkishparty the in back Bulgaria dates tothe minority on the territory biggest the numerically represent Turks ethnic case.Firstly, chosenthe Turkish consciously of modern-day have I Roma, the especially inBulgaria, Bulgaria. minorities sizeable other of existence the Secondly, they are politically puzzle. an ethnic already exacerbated complex that mobilized, from my comparative framework due to the eruption of a violent conflict and a full-scale war See for instance, Birner, Jóhanna Kristín, See for instance, Rose, 2005 Unlike the case of Bulgaria, in all other cases selected here, formation of formation of ethnic here, casesselected inother Bulgaria, all caseof Unlike the While of inBulgaria.aware Turkishon minority the concentrates This paper solely , Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1994 Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: GuideA to Nationality Policies, 125 I have adopted the following criteria: the electoral support of support electoral the following criteria: the Ihaveadopted Ethnicity and Electoral Politics 45 124 Furthermore, there is a definitional a is there Furthermore, , New York: Cambridge University CEU eTD Collection 128 127 London: Hurst & Co., 1997 130 factbook/geos/lo.html 129 accessedApril on 23, 2007 factbook/geos/bu.html 126 evidence for it. and itsupport from deriving theirelectoral will notprovide benecessarythem, to empirical minoritiesinterests of respective the the as representing declarepolitical parties themselves for Bulgaria, except purposes the parties cases,officially the inall of paper.Since the this for abolished be will it Therefore, ban. constitutional existing the to due prove to impossible formations, which leads to a high degree of fragmentation. This is a result of within splitthe is of a result This fragmentation. a high of to degree leads which formations, and parties political byseven arerepresented interests Basque The different. completely is Spain caseof The ofthe minorities. envoys the uncontested in are Bulgaria Freedoms and Rights for Movement the and Slovakia in Coalition Hungarian the of Party The minority. inHungarians Romania isthe onlypolitical party effectively representing this sizeable of Alliance Democratic the Currently, party. political a as registration state official awaiting is - Union Civic Hungarian -the formation political Hungarian another Romania In party. for representation. vote can collectively in they when elections, them This leverage gives concentrated. aregeographically minorities ethnic above, the presented In allthecases Basques. numberthe of theofficial as will regard population, total the is4.9%of Country Basque of the In population the Spain, ‘subprovinces’ a majority”with Turkish four eachwith south, andthe north ofthe pockets “intwo areas inhabit agricultural the ethnically Hungarian ethnically CIA– WorldThe FactbookRomania, – < Millard, 2004, page 227. Conversi, Daniele, Conversi, CIA – WorldThe Factbook –Slovakia, < CIA– WorldThe FactbookBulgaria, – < Ethnic Turks constitute 9.4 Ethnic %of total the Turksconstitute of population Bulgaria. In all the cases, except of Spain, the ethnic minority is represented by one political >, lastaccessedMay on 18, 2007 >, last accessed on May 18, 2007 The Basques, theCatalans and Spain: Alternative Routes to Nationalist Mobilization 128 , while 9.7%of Slovak constitute citizens Hungarianthe minority https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ro.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world- https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world- 127 . 6.6 % of the total %of is total the . 6.6 population Romanian 46 126 They mainly They 130 which I >, last , 129 . CEU eTD Collection 133 New York: Routledge, 2005 132 http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu12ee/uu12ee0m.htm#12.%20political%20autonomy%20and%20co nflict%20resolution:%20the%20basque%20case 131 institutionalize discrimination. the issued wereto suppressed anddecrees Spain FrancoistBasque identity of allsigns were In suffered previous regimes. underthe historical andrepressions members thatthe discrimination minoritieshad ethnic the of share divided.cumulative vote gets constituencies on the nationalConsequently, level all theseas well.parties thatBut competeCountry,due to for a powerhigh on numbera regional levelof these tryis to attractimportantparties, their the to notewhich thatnon-nationalism,provincialismnon-provincialism, vs. and left vs.right wing. wing there is a degree implies of Basquethe country along four different cleavages:vs. violence non-violence, nationalism vs. regional autonomy in the casesome of the Basque sort of electoral competition on the regional level. autonomy autonomy upandsprang since werecontinuous then. Demands for cultural and territorial gainedsupport. nationalistic of Basqueparties claims the led to the current claimsminorities. of the current led tothe which developments, historical the examine carefully must one cases, selected in the politics inethnic differences and similarities be trace ableto to order In Hungarians worsened. of ethnic thesituation of Czechoslovakia break the up leading to the Attime respectively. and pursuingcultural assimilation policies –Bulgariazation and Romanianization Zhivkov andCeausescu wereforcibly nameschanging the of ethnic minority representatives regimes. communist the under discrimination increased to subjected were minorities ethnic Castells and Gurutz Apud Beck, Jan Mansvelt, Jan Beck, Apud Castells, José Manuel Gurutzand Jauregui, Similarities between all the cases are evident. The most important of those arethe important of those Themost evident. thecasesare all between Similarities Territory and Terror: Conflicting Nationalisms in the BasqueCountry Political Autonomy andConflict Resolution: The Basque Case >, last accessed onMay 18, 2007 47 133 Inboth Bulgaria andRomania the 132 At that period the 131 , London, Also,it , < CEU eTD Collection 135 134 conditionality, both Romania of negotiations,these radicalized theirWith demands. NATOEU and of using the policies and Hungary were forcedin context the leverage realizing their DAHR, the proceeded, and Hungary between Romania to settle the issue live’.” populations where‘compact Hungarian territorial autonomy of Hungarians in “to demands their ofescalated year,DAHR leadership the that Later autonomy. communal caseofRomania 6.3 The autonomy. for acultural demands voices modestly (SMK) Coalition theHungarian of Party the now claims,and fewer majority radical led to from Slovak the goodwill of signs the Nevertheless, Hungary and Hungary itswithdrew initial forsupport its compatriots in nearthe abroad. in power to came Fidesz nationalistic however, meantime, the In positions. ministerial three again.new Hungarians received started pro-minority agenda, Afterwards, with Dzurinda’s Hungarians against ethnic andintimidation in of repression resumed 1995,policies power help. Meciar When did not government into acoalition inclusion of Promises escalated. even and a pro-minority with of andinstalling a Hungarianspower liberal Meciarout backedousting government a agenda. At the sameforthcoming repressions. Thetime, minority radicalization gained momentum. Not surprisingly, the their claims of signs showing started government Meciar’s since Slovakia, and Hungary between for autonomy did soured breakrelations in up, Czechoslovak wakeof the the territorial autonomy. Earlier, not stop, but the threshold to enter into the parliament. ofSlovakia case 6.2 The They campaigned with the claims of regional or Ibid., page 115 Jenne, Erin K., By 1993 the DAHRhad replacedits demands for territorial autonomy with claims for the For 1994 Slovak national theHungarianelections ranin parties pass a coalition to 134 Ethnic Bargaining: TheParadox of Minority Empowermen 48 t, Cornell University Press, 2007 135 Asthenegotiations CEU eTD Collection 136 Lovetch Kyustendil Kirdjali Dobreech Gabrovo Vratca Vidin Veliko Tirnovo Varna Burgas Blagoevgrad Actual vote Electoral District concentrated are Turks ethnic where ‘subprovinces’ four ofthe one in located are bolded are that Districts ‘-‘ sign indicates that the party passdid not the 4 % threshold toget amandate district Table 3:Vote share of MRF by electoral districts inpercentages and thepercentagemandates of takenper in presented tablethe below. Bulgaria districts. by electoral in Bulgaria elections national consists last the of results the at look will I of thirty-onethat the party derives its electoral support mainly from the ethnic minority. In order to do that, electoralis an ethnic political party. As was mentioned earlier, the criteriondistricts. that I will be usingpresenting here the historyis of MRF and their claims, itisimportant toempirically prove that MRF The vote share inBulgaria formation ethnic asan 6.4 MRF of MRF by districts is return, DAHR abandoned its claims for territorial autonomy. languagelaws.made tothe education In and Thegovernment also amendments government. forcesWhen in cametopower DAHRinto opposition coalitionthe wasinvitedthe 1996, Hungarian sincegovernment, pursuingnon-interventionist hadreluctantly policies, agreed. The be would allowed. rights collective no that clearly states, declared two the between agreement of the terms the finalizing when Iliescu’s government Romania. However, Jenne, Erin K. Prior to engaging in a discussion about the nature of ethnic politics in Bulgaria and 7.37 1.50 67.32 14.05 6.61 1.29 13.39 4.56 8.66 15.06 18.51 MRF (%) share of - - 100 17.85 - - - - 9.79 16.86 21.50 MRF (%) taken by Mandates 49 136 CEU eTD Collection regions or regions where the majority of the inhabitants are ethnically Turkish. This would This Turkish. ethnically are inhabitants the of majority the where regions or regions MRFis support the Consequently, from derived couldaverof that ‘mixed’the one primarily pass requiredthe in not threshold. could they capital, the concentrated geographically not -are Muslims–Pomaks Bulgarian and And Turks the ethnic sincethe interests. Bulgarianthe society MRFperceives asapurelyethnicforce representing purely Turkish that fact the by explained be can This province. its and capital the from MRF for mandates 138 137 majority Turkish numerical with either in electoral districts the mandates, of parliamentary number highest the abroad. As can be seen from the table above, MRF gained the highest share of votes, and thus from citizens Bulgarian by cast votes the secondly, and votes, the of breakdown national 19, 2007 Source: Central Elections Committee,< National results from Votes abroad Yambol Shoumen Khaskovo Tirgovishte Stara Zagora Sofia province Sofia 25MIR Sofia 24MIR Sofia 23MIR Smolyan Sleeven Silistra Rousse Razgrad Plovdiv district Plovdiv city Pleven Pernik Pazardjik Montana Dobreech, Pazardjik, Razgrad, Silistra, Smolyan, Tirgovishte, andKhaskovo Kirdjali and Shoumen The ethnic support-base of MRF can be proven on two different levels - firstly, the 137 orwith a substantive Turkish population 12.81 2.88 27.48 16.55 37.84 5.58 4.25 0.56 2.35 0.44 15.25 9.99 36.12 11.76 45.97 9.81 7.18 7.25 0.42 11.91 4.12 53.99 http://www.2005izbori.org/results/index.html 14.07 - 33.96 19.94 55.95 - - - - - 24.37 14.20 54.19 13.55 69.52 11.09 7.70 8.24 - 14.86 - 59.09 50 138 . Furthermore, there were no were there . Furthermore, >, last accessed on May on accessed last >, CEU eTD Collection http://www.parliament.bg/?page=ns&lng=en&nsid=5&action=show&gid=141 142 141 19, 2007 http://www.southeasteurope.org/subpage.php?sub_site=2&id=17500&head=hl&site=3 http://www.mfa.government.bg/index.php?item_id=11325 Horizont, “Before All” Programme, 22June,2005, < 139 in were those Turkey. considerably bignumber of pollingstations were More established seventy than abroad. of political party. base theMRFis support prove of and,thus, the that MRFisethnically anethnic the Turkish 140 mandates. Turkey had the highest share. From all MRF votes abroad, the cast59.09 got % of the in citizens Bulgarian abroad, living citizens of numerical proportions basedon were allocated abroad. numbercitizens of Bulgarian highest live there–the Zhivkov’s anti-Turkish ingeneral,forpolicies and sentiments reinstatementof the and their by MRF as Zhivkov. Infact, massa consequenceof in1989 emerged demonstrations against initiated repressions the backto dates politics in Bulgarian cleavage ethnic the appearance of now turn to the party political asa 6.5 MRF evolution of MRF as a politicalcentrist position in the power politics within the Bulgarian state. its in securing thus it coalition governments, has Moreover, participated establishment. party and up 82.35 % of party’sthe sinceits MPs.Infact, MRF electoral success has enjoyed relative its currentthe Parliament. in MRF activities. representing currently MPs the of Outethnicity the from ofderived be can thirty-fourevidence another MPs, twenty-eight The are ethnically Turkish, For the list of the MPs refer to the official website3 of Table to the National refer Assembly nationwide, ofvotes share of actual the Republicthe For of Bulgaria, < Deputy Minister Sylvia Neycheva comments on the elections to be held abroad, Bulgarian National Radio, “Turkish Voting Rights Come UnderAttack in Bulgaria”, Furthermore, the Bulgarian citizens living abroad were able to cast their votes since a votes cast their to wereable abroad living citizens Bulgarian the Furthermore, Considering the task of establishing MRF as an ethnic formation accomplished, Ishall 141 Thisisindirect another proof ethnic the of MRF that support-base enjoys. Yet 139 This is not surprising, Thisisnot 100,000Bulgarian the fact that given citizens 51 >, last accessed onMay 19, 2007 South East Europe Online 140 From all the mandates that mandates the all From >, last accessed on May 19, 2007 >, last accessed on May on accessed >, last , February 8, 2007, < 142 thusmaking CEU eTD Collection out of control. In the initial phases of transition, “the existence of MRF was beneficial for collapse however,Communismof in have organizationBulgaria, this wasbelieved to gotten After the locally. Turks tocontrol ethnic the wascreated organization a secret Consequently, a rurallevel.on discontent contain Turkish wanted to the that services inBulgaria secret autonomy. communal or territorial, MRFhasnever cultural, analyzedin ethnic other chapter, claimed the this parties economic problems facing minority populations in Bulgaria as itsone of priorities. hardships faced by in Turks the Bulgaria arepersisting, MRFannounced the alleviation of the mankind andof andall religious in cultural communities Bulgaria’” of freedoms and rights the with compliance unequivocal and full the to and people Bulgarian embraces “all issues of inBulgaria,civil rights contribute aiming totheunity ‘to of the itsit platform claims that Furthermore, citizens. all Bulgarian represents that party national avoid to order MRF beingrebukedon grounds, hasconstitutional declared itself all-an 145 cms/vis/vis.pl?s=001&p=0368&n=&vis 144 143 rule”injury aswell under forassociations, communist suffered the redress formlanguage religiousfor to freedom cultural demands, Islam,andrights Turkish in of Turks Bulgaria. largenumbers the despite country, the within tensions inthose Balkans,the MRF and the Turkishminority in generalwereable avoid to ethnic under the communist/socialist regimes. However, unlike other countries in the region, namely ethnicminorities injustice toward tothe surfaced due ethnic region inthe to other that parties is similar MRF the regard that In those. redress to was goal sole MRF’s in particular. names Ibid. The official website of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, < Millard, page 235. It is frequently argued that MRF in itself is one ofthe last creations of the Communist MRF’s initial goals included “the restoration of full rights for minorities, including minorities, for rights full of restoration “the included goals initial MRF’s =>, last accessed on December 4, 2006. 4, December on accessed last =>, 52 http://www.dps.bg/cgi-bin/e- 144 . As the economic As the . 143 . However, in However, . 145 Unlike CEU eTD Collection New Bulgarian University, conducted in Sofia, onApril 12, 2007 147 International Studies, conducted in Sofia, onApril 13, 2007 146 Bulgaria” ‘either-or’ one. ‘either-or’ an on than rather continuum a ‘more-or-less’ be on assessed will Europeanization of concept in not.However,onemust mindkeep Bulgaria or canbeconsideredEuropeanized the that This section will address those. It is the main task of this chapter to depict whether the case of grounds: two electoral of lastnational results and the elections their demands claims. and perspective inacomparative parties political 6.6 Ethnic right. and left political the both with ally to hesitant participated in coalitions.governing Interestingly,in all theethniccases partieswere not have andMacedonia Romania, inSlovakia, parties large,ethnic CEEregion the at where party”maximize the for for and himself thebenefits coalitions to andlaterNegotiations independent, Dogan only he “playingwas started with different status of a thirdMuslims. party This for was itselfusefulcould fuelingthe preventin ideas of these the areaspopulatedby ethnic TurksandBulgarian for duringMRF, since theAhmedand fundamentalism, the main players theRoundtableduring believed Negotiations thatMRF Roundtable Dogan, the leader Talks. underof MRF, control. negotiatedIn theFurthermore, initial a since phasesMRF was always of againstthe any sort of religious radicalism Personal interview with Dr. Vassil Garnizov, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology of the Personal interview with Dr. Marin Lessenski, Director of Programs of the Institute for Regional and As was mentioned earlier, ethnic political parties in this chapter will becompared on inthischapter ethnic parties mentioned earlier, political As was 146 . It helped in mobilizing the ethnic Turks and, at the same time, keeping them 53 147 In fact, this is typical for CEU eTD Collection majority-minority tensions on daily basis, especially involving violence are no longer the longer no are violence involving especially basis, daily on tensions majority-minority itseems that However, in Slovakia. and arguably Spain buthere, analyzed of states the in none tensions visible minority-majority are There thesis. this of scope the beyond is claim upon However,this indwelling that case still the of persists. Basques,discrimination the minorities analyzed in this chapter have witnessed repressions in the past. Some would in claim All in tableabove. politics ethnic casespresented ethnic five the and the the relations violence) of (instances tensions majority Minority - governments? coalition in participated Ever party ethnic the for elections national oflast Results pursued? demands are the How over time? change they Did Party Cooperative/ demands party ethnic an as recognition Official minority ethnic the repressions of Previous comparison Areas of Table 4: Ethnic political parties in a comparative perspective A lot of similarities, along with drastic differences, can be drawn from of from nature the canbedrawn differences, drastic with along A lot of similarities, Zhivkov Not since yes 12.81 % cooperation negotiations/ Peaceful no Modest no yes MRF In yes the 1990s yes 6.20 % cooperation / negotiations Peaceful yes autonomy regional Limited yes yes DAHR 54 yes 11.68 % cooperation / negotiations Peaceful yes autonomy Cultural yes yes SMK yes 7.50 % Occasional cooperation yes modest / Cooperative yes yes PDP/DPA Basques In yes the 1990s no to 1.6 % from 0.2 % Ranging violence no autonomy Territorial yes yes CEU eTD Collection element (‘nation’/’nationality’) of the Macedonian state” Macedonian the of (‘nation’/’nationality’) element differ from those Democratic Party Albaniansof the inMacedonia (DPA)but sincedemandsthe of 1998, DPA of MRF in that DPA “demanded that Albanians become a ‘constituent’ 151 150 149 http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/kokkalis/GSW3/Maria_Koinova.pdf School of Government, Harvard University, 8-11February, 2001,< Workshop of Socratesthe Kokkalis, Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe, JohnF. Kennedy 1989-1990”, EuropeanUniversity Institute, Florence, Italy, Paper fordelivery at Third Annual Students 148 In the initial rhetoric. demonstrating increasingly cooperative an Since party then elections. the started phases of 1998general the after the coalition subsequently softenedgovernment entered onceDPA transition,the grounds of the former, DPA “advocated an ‘armed revolt’”demands proclaiming ‘Republic the Initially,formedIlirida’. when of andDPA was PDP dissolved on for autonomyConstitution, were the of voting the referendum, independence 1991 the boycotted dominant (PDP) Prosperity Democratic and inthe the for Party of the DPA, Thepredecessor beenhave not constant. party political Albanian 1991 party’s census. The radical wings of the party even went as society” civil the far as into it and integrate ethnos ‘decapsulate’ the to goal, one political 90sMRF“maintained the Throughout accommodating. and cooperative was always party the of rhetoric the contrary, the Francoist repressions.time. Some of Basque the partiespolitical have been territorial autonomysincedemanding MRF, on the otherban is in effect. This makes Bulgariahand, a unique case study on the region. has never political the existing party due to ban. constitutional in country Innoother the CEEsucha had radical order of dayinthe the region. MRFin Only Bulgaria is not officially recognized asan ethnic claims. On the Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Yugoslavia: and Macedonia of Bulgaria, The Cases Conflict: of Ethnic Outcomes “Three Maria, Koinova, The claims of MRF are relatively unique as well.The closest toitis the demand of the Only in Spainand Bulgaria the demands of ethnicthe change parties not did over 148 . This is true for the current claims of MRF as well. 55 >, last accessedMay on 2007.20, 149 . Nevertheless, the demands of the 150 . This rhetoric was . This rhetoric 151 CEU eTD Collection the book in Romanian can be found on < 153 2007 152 rhetoric of DAHR isvery inclinedmuch towards cooperation with government. the official the then Since autonomy. regional limited anincreased for itsvoiced preference DAHR claimsformade. territorial autonomy lawslanguage abandoned and Inreturn, were and tothe education power,and amendments cameto moderates in 1996 earlier, mentioned As amajority. was constitute in Hungarians areaswhere the autonomy for territorial claims.As long asIliescugranting wasagainst Hungarians collective DAHR rights, pushed the radicalize DAHRto Iliescu prompted of rhetoric hard-line the meantime, In the heard. However, in softened and1993 these for demands communal only claims beautonomy could After the collapse of Ceausescu’s regime, DAHR voiced of Republic the and of then Ilirida), bea gradual couldsoftening witnessed. demands for territorial time (proclamation of for aperiod further radicalized becameeven demands these platform; autonomy. are very fragmented, and the central government does not have one force to negotiate with. negotiate have notforce to does one andgovernment central the fragmented, are very Basqueparties fact the that to the attributed be game. also maincould This actors’ part of the never were parties Basque while the governments, incoalition DPA, andMRFparticipated their demands through peaceful negotiations andcooperation. Consequently, DAHR,SMK, heard. be claims for softened rhetoric could the and cultural autonomy gradually governments, andparticipateassurancesfrom wasable in Once government the SMKgot to coalition Slovakia, SMK inwas demanding territorial from autonomy Dzurinda. the period to Meciar rhetoric thanagradual whose wasmarkedbyseveral rather change.case of shifts In case of DAHR is rather unique for the region, since it is the only ethnic political party in CEE Jenne, 2007 Gabriel, Andreescu, 153 In fact, similar softening of rhetoric can be observed in the cases of DAHR and SMK. In all the cases, but inIn but all cases,the Spain, ethnicpolitical parties the andstill are pursuing were Ruleta: Romani si Maghiari: 1990-2000 http://www.edrc.ro/docs/docs/ruleta.pdf 56 , Ed. Polirom, Iasi, 2001; the online version of >, last accessed on May 20, 152 The CEU eTD Collection research puzzle. It is neither fully Europeanized, nor is it ‘Eastern’. isBulgaria not ethnic more whenit comes uniquethan to presenting politics, acomplex andfor particularcase of the support community party.Overall, ethnic the and turnout which non-voters, isnon-registered the on provided data to not is there that mention be to important is consideredit Furthermore, non-voters. of ethnicity the was on available nodata research of momentthis as another reasonsreason for itfor could thebe that gap the turnoutbetween during thethe elections actual was almostsize 56 %,of and thefor the factbook/geos/mk.html 154 population the 25%of total Albanians constitute and InMacedonia, Slovakia. forRomania, MRF), loyal electorate Muslimsarea Bulgarian factthat is tothe for 3% difference attributed (the in Bulgaria as group ethnic same percentage the the roughly constitute ethnic for the parties level. national the on them weakens which scene, political a fragmented creating thus elections, local and regional for battle Country Basque in the parties political these Consequently, autonomy. regional is in is only herethat Basquetime, Spain granted the the from casespresented one region the the different Basque political parties got from – surprise comeas a not do elections 0.2national last the of results to the Therefore, 1.6 revolts. armed % of the national vote. At the same cooperation andincreased cultural rights to very radicalfor callsclaims for modest territorialfrom ranging autonomy demands, and different very have parties these all Moreover, CIA – The World Factbook – Macedonia, < Macedonia, – Factbook World –The CIA The situation with the other ethnic parties is completely different. The electoral results 154 , but the DPA received only 7.5 % in the last national elections. One of the >, last accessedMay on 20, 2007 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world- 57 CEU eTD Collection Michigan Press, 1995, page 1 bewill parties ‘extremist’ in compared toother Europe. economic platformsthe paper, this of purposes the for Nevertheless, of continuum. political parties the of sides both will not be assessed its of from draws dogmas that ideologies anewform of one the are witnessing extremism, here. In this chapter the we or newandunstable, parties is factthat these aregenerally due tothe made this whether Bulgarian be case can Arguments strategies. economic left-wing with ideologies political right-wing radical combine parties These Families. of Polish League the or Party, Romania Greater Bulgaria, in Attack of canbefrom platforms Coalition drawn the Examples platforms economic center-leftist or havedo extreme-leftist asextreme-rightist can be described that parties most of most of which came into theirin own 1980sandearlythe 1990s” unprecedented new rise of extreme ‘rightist’ parties some of which took off in the 1970sbut an has experienced Europe “Western that fact the to is due done This political parties. right extreme- of strength the and rhetoric the emergence, the be analyzing will I Westernization, rightcenter- – center-left the of sides both from observed be can deviations extreme Consequently, continuum.The norm here refersSince to the ‘mainstream’ this thesistrends in party politicsdeals in Europewith as a whole.the concept of Europeanization, i.e. 156 155 norm” the beyond existence an deviance, of a kind implies itself ‘extremism’ term “the by argues that who Millard, proposed definition the have I adopted it.chapter this In about political parties define andOne must formations. the term engagingin clearly before adebate extremist of strength the and rhetoric the existence, the analyze to importance utmost is of it comparison for grounds the and terms 7.1 The 7. Extremism Kitschelt, Herbert, Kitschelt, Millard, page 120 At the same time, I do acknowledge that in the CEE region most of the political For asuccessful evaluation of the level of Europeanization of Bulgarian party politics, The Radical RightinWestern Europe: A Comparative Analysis, 58 156 . The University of University The 155 . CEU eTD Collection 158 18, page 3 159 wachsender Gefahr entgegenzuwirken, 157 nationalism” revolves same the xenophobia,old around and racism, staples: “ideology [that] as an extremism right-wing who describes Macridis, from comes definition widely accepted forces” “progress-hostile all to describe term the use example, for al., describe The list Hartmann to of suggested definitions extremism isenormous. right-wing et right-wing extremism.As Von Beyme has observed, 160 Company,and 4 since analyzed, be will the elections parliamentary last the only Bulgaria, of radicalcase in the that mind in keep to important is It well. as Coalition table a comparative into inserted be will elections national the Attack of The results table. in answer no’ a comparative given a ‘yesor willbe just indicator latter has emergedlast three only national two elections, on groundsthe of their main strength. Two willindicators be used:the electoral results inthe months and whetherprior the partyto hasthem. enteredspecifically. coalition governments.different The connotations the aware of Although interchangeably. beused will ‘radicalism’ and terms ‘extremism’ the of the two, it goes beyond the scope of this chapter to refer to them analyzed in the case ofPoland case the in analyzed 161 2000 University Press, Manchester Hartmann, U., H. P. Steffen and S. Steffen, Macridis, R. C., VonBeyme, K., “Right-wing Extremism in Post-war Europe”, For a specific explanation of the differences refer to Mudde, Cas, Mudde, to refer differences ofthe explanation specific a For The League of Polish Families appeared only in 2001, therefore, only the last two national elections will be Due to the complexity of the issue, there is no one single definition of criteria for of criteria single isnoone definition issue, there the complexity of Due tothe In this chapter radicalthe right-wing parties and political formations willbecompared 160 159 th edition, 1989, page 231 political parties of the right has not had serious problems in problems serious cases. appropriate selecting had not has right the of parties political concept for ‘right-wing extremism’, research work on history of ideas largely failed toprovide a convincing the on based derivations or definitions formal though . I will. I follow definition this throughout chapter.Moreover,the in this chapter Contemporary Political Ideologies: Movements and Regimes Munich, Kösel, 1985, page 9 Rechtsextremismus bei Jugendlichen. Anregungen, der 157 59 West European Politics The Ideology of the Extreme Right Extreme the of Ideology The , Glennview, Scott, Foresman 158 . A more specific and , 11:2, 1988, pages 1- 161 , I do CEU eTD Collection 163 Eastern Europe 162 years:has been the that over agreed every consensus political to “was in party opposition afierce The program by for votes. the campaign presented andimmediately elections started to enter into a coalition in 40 group the with it. Coalition Attack a high level support and of largesteffectively itself aspositioned fourth the parliamentary appeared two gained which Attack months Coalition of face the in formation prior anti-establishment an of breakthrough to the general level.in both Bulgaria andon from a European “One election wasthe the surprise extremism-free andtolerantpolitical inarena was ruptured 2005. given of status a third Roundtable the Nevertheless,during Negotiations. party the the ethnic tolerance toparty was bepresent on the builtpolitical arena, and the mainstream political inextremist no actors regime, hadthe Zhivkov’s of agreed collapse the onAfter a model inBulgaria. society.of minority ethnic As a consequence minority the Turkishethnic against measures werefirstandforemost – thelargest aimed of this consensus, discriminatory Certainly, the and repressions. havesufferedminorities discrimination MRF was ethnic the which under the ‘national initiated process, revival’ whenZhivkov period, Communist the to back dates Bulgaria in ideology extremist of history recent The Bulgaria. in radicalism right-wing the discuss to necessary is it Europe, across parties political Attack Coalition The Bulgaria: in 7.2 Extremism in Bulgaria; is andformations number there that extremistpolitical of parties though a other acknowledge Savkova, page 1. page Savkova, in “Bulgaria”, Ilieva, Margarita and Christo Ivanov, instance Seefor The last parliamentary elections came as a shock to most of the analysts and officials extremist right-wing the of strength the of overview comparative any giving Before 162 , edited by Cas Mudde,Routledge, 2005 however none of those are ‘electorally’ relevant. th National Assembly” National 163 . None of the existing political formations were ready were formations political existing of the . None 60 Racist Extremism in Central and CEU eTD Collection Agency,May 23, 2007, < 167 2007 166 165 164 “started itself Attack elections, aparty organizing apparatus” as with a strong parliamentary last the after However, formation. anti-integrationist and racism, xenophobia, labels major the of from were players the hadreceived Attack The that only Attack. reactions of emergence tothe respond ready to not were parties mainstream the of campaigns electoral the Therefore, asviable. Attack successof electoral of the threat perceived the actors political campaign, unlike the other political parties and formations. Initially, none of the major a few” but name to foreigners land sale to the of EU accession agreements, in war, Iraq the participation economic reality faced by the majority of the population set a fertile soil fertilefor radicalism. soil set a facedby majority population the of reality economic the of hardships the and foremost, First CEEstates. other with its appearance for reasons similar phenomenon.Although emergingmuch later extremism stage, ata in hasvery Bulgaria emergence of right-wing radicalism in a seemingly non-radical society. region. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to analyze the possible reasons for the and CEE the Europe Western in both parties of tothat right-wing radical Attack Coalition of compareis strength the main to taskof this the chapter earlier, As wasmentioned Parliamentary in elections got14.22May Attack 2007, Coalition % of nationalthe vote. in and Roma.first ethnic minorities, Turks the the especially the Furthermore, the European run off presidential the of in elections 2006, creatinga public outcry and an amongoutrage Sidorov,popularity Attack, madeitof newlyemergedextremistthe the party, leaderof the to their rhetoric to calm their voters down. Despite the efforts of the main actors to lower the “Bulgaria’s Central Electoral CommissionAnnounces Final MEP Vote Results”, Novinite.com Sofia News Personal interview with Dr. Vassil Garnizov 6. page Savkova, Central Elections Committee, < Since Attack got % of 8.14 Attack Since popularthe vote, In Bulgaria, as in the other CEE countries, right-wing extremism is a post-Communist 164 . Interestingly, it. Interestingly,have andfinanced not awell-organized, structured did http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=81022 http://www.2005izbori.org/results/index.html 61 166 the main players started modifying started players main the >, last accessed on May 23, 2007 >, last accessed on May 19, 165 . 167 CEU eTD Collection 2007 < 172 171 170 169 of Budget and Finance Committee, conducted in Sofia, onApril 13, 2007 Deputy Chairperson of LocalSelf-Government, Regional Policy Urbanand Development Committee, Member 168 regime, Communist the lived under extremism. breed solutions. As out,“the Paskalev unsolvedpointed socio-economic problems inBulgaria” forgo radical to tend hardships and their poverty dueto become desperate People who losers’ is so vague that virtually everyone who is not in power or who does not belong to the to belong not does who or in power not is who everyone virtually that vague so is losers’ of ‘transition the definition well. However, as wereadded of people it. categories Other with have agreed Attack, Coalition the of for the representative except process, in theresearch interviewed All MPs losers heardof answer is‘the Thethe transition’. Bulgaria? frequently able provide to ideology one unified for people,the this vacuumemerged. wouldthat thedaily provide guidelines. Once thenewlonger Bulgarian nogovernment was emerges” extremism thus and vacuum, ideological is an there Now ideology. a communist was there communism, “When ideology. was there state lackof is the by Garabedyan, outlined Attack. Coalition success like a political of intheelectoral frustration,party toageneral whichresults leads of long-existingrepresentatives the reinforcing stereotypes. Romathe minority,thus performed by crimes havesufferedfrom Moreover, anumberBulgarians of frustrated. minority language of knowledge the getTurkish isamust by, to some get Bulgarians leverage.account into Takingin that some areasheavily by populated ethnicthe Turkish Bulgarian majority and theminority Turkish ethnic the with also provides groups radical a https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bu.html#People Tocheck the age structure of Bulgarian the population, refer toCIA – WorldThe Factbook, Personal interview Dr.with Agop Garabedyan Personal interview with Dr. Stanimir Ilchev and Dr. Anastasia Moser Personal interview Dr.with Stanimir Ilchev, spokesmanNMSS, conducted Sofia,in on April 14, 2007 Personal interview withDr. Kostadin Paskalev, memberof Parliamentary Group Coalition forBulgaria, Consequently, one is left puzzled with the question: who votes Consequently, in votes for Attack with one isleft Coalition question:the who puzzled 171 . Also, one must take into account that the majority of the Bulgarian citizens have 168 170 Furthermore, the not so obvious from a first glance tension between the between tension glance first a from so obvious not the Furthermore, Another possible reason for the success of radicalism in Bulgaria, as in Bulgaria, radicalism successof for the reason possible Another 172 where they were socialized intohaving a state ideology 62 >, last accessed on May May 23, on accessed last >, 169 This CEU eTD Collection Society Institute, Sofia, < April 14, 2007 Memberof Laborand Social Policy Committee,Movement, Model MemberSocial Equal of Health Day Movement, Care George’s St. Committee, BAPU, conductedAlliance-BAPU, inNational Sofia,DP, onForces, 176 175 last accessed on May 20, 2007 174 173 in EU. whofear loss ofthe sovereignty Bulgaria’s those attracts up the streets, because the most frustrated citizens do not vote at all. during the elections. This is not the most frustrated strata in the society thatis ready to take andnotdoanything do change to thestatus currentquo; their radicalism is expressed only voters are usually of the median age; they declare themselves as angry and radical,but cannot expected. was it as as high not are results these but formations, political radical for voting and is there ‘losers’ correlation have that ahigh between population feelings the of study revealed of a large Results misleading. is deeply aslosers Attack transition of of all voters the years. transition the during something lost have to % of population based then claimed Bulgarian on self-perceptions, the approximately 50 fewcanfallwealthy intoif this category. Also, the‘losers categorizes one of transition’ the Attack’s discourse. These are the unemployed youngsters in the urban areas, whereas in whereas areas, in urban the youngsters unemployed the These are discourse. Attack’s the radical duetotheiryoungsters, ideas, to vulnerability areeasily psychological by influenced mainstream political parties and was votingfor the Socialists before. He further avers that the current of inisthe performance the disappointed that of society the strata privileged formerly from alsothe its support Attack derives that out Kazakpoints fears of unknown. the membership in Union,the and not the governmentprovidedoes answerstothelegitimate the of andbenefits aware of costs the not in is Bulgaria thegeneral public previous chapters Personal interview with Dr. Ivan Kolchakov, Member of Parliamentary Group of the United Ibid. Democratic Change”, Radical the and Intolerance of Minority “The Vassil, Garnizov, Personal interview with Dr. Vassil Garnizov In addition to those who have ‘lost something during the transition period’, Attack 174 So who votes radical? The results of a social survey have outlined that these http://politiki.bg/?cy=60&lang=2&a0i=222832&a0m=readInternal&a0p_id=167 63 173 However, Garnizov However, labeling claimed that Politiki.bg 176 175 As was mentioned in the mentioned Aswas , Issue 12/06,Open >, CEU eTD Collection H.Merkl and Leonard Weinberg, Frank Cass Publishers, 2003, page24 179 178 177 arguesthat life. Betz political mainstream the entering hastily itself finds radicalism forces, political traditional of erosion of process than ever” is“stronger in Europe right extreme the that stated Merkl CEE. perspective comparative 7.3 Pan-European elections in 2005. didgeta higherin Attack surprisingnot votes national thatCoalition the last shareof are not addressed package wasvery –itincludedmarket-oriented issues that concern average butthe Bulgarian by the inall mainstreamtogether a platform people,and offeredtheir itto increased popularity drastically. This political parties. Taking all this into account, it is the older generations, Attack gets a higher share of the vote. is and among rural higherboth the frustration level much youngsters areas, wherethe of solution. alternative an saw as they for what voted they Consequently, beaddressed. issuesare to broke thisAnd Attack largeCoalition felt anumberof consensus. sensitive people these that markettowards economy, EUandthe NATO,and privatization.pluralism, party 2005 In question path the viability of to not the andthe constitution; ideasorder the of constitutional touch upon questionsthe minorities,identity of in change notattack theof 1985-89period; to mainThere wasa not to the since among Negotiations consensus theRoundtable players Merkl, Peter H., “Stronger than Ever”, in Ever”, than “Stronger H., Peter Merkl, Personal interview with Dr. Vassil Garnizov Kazak Dr. Tchetin with interview Personal Right-wing extremism is described to be equally strong in both Western Europe and Europe Western both in strong be equally to is described extremism Right-wing When Coalition Attack appeared on the political arena, it broke all the societal taboos. all societal itthe broke arena, on political the appeared Attack Coalition When 178 Since no one touched upon these sensitive issues, once Coalition Attack put them put Attack Coalition once issues, sensitive these upon touched one no Since occurred atoccurred a time of turmoilenormous profound and has democracies capitalist advanced in radicalism wing itis hardly a coincidence thatrecentupsurgeof the right- Right-Wing Extremism in the Twenty-first Century 64 177 179 , edited by Peter , edited . Due to the CEU eTD Collection Napoca,2003, page 29 182 181 Century 180 a large to extent. their electorates disappointed have parties traditional political the but vacuum, ideological an is there only not where region, CEE the for true is same The throughout throughout CEEregionthe atlarge.and Europe The personality leaderof the big plays a inthepolitics role Thisholds groups. of radical true This helps a deal great in consolidatingfor support their rhetoric andpromoting theirvalues. personality. hascharismatic avery parties, radical leaders of majority as the the of Tudor, Vadim is tonotethat intolerancepromotes It hate-speech. and important party that uses elections PRM received 13.2%of generalthe vote. This, of iscourse, a very for high a share parliamentary when insuccess somehowlastnational elections dropped 2000.Theirin the inthird lastthe presidential elections in 2004. PRMreceived 23% of popularthe in vote the of presidential the in elections 2000 with a convincing 33%of generalthe vote, and scoring The strength of PRM and its leader, resulted Vadim inTudor, him in participating run the off and remains 7.3.1 Romania become very successful. structures existing to the opposition voiceand their solutions radical offer that parties consequence, Andreescu, Gabriel, Andreescu, Personal interview Dr.with Agop Garabedyan Betz, Hans-Georg, “The Growing Threat of the Radical Right”, in , edited by PeterH. Merkl and Leonard Weinberg, Frank Cass Publishers, 2003, page 85 “The most consistent, effective and threatening form of extremism in Romania was Romania in extremism of form threatening and effective consistent, most “The ultranationalism ‘postmodernization’. and globalization with associated primarily been have years, Inrecent these developments established structures. of the collapse and by erosion the filling avoid created forces, traditional the to alternatives as themselves propose andmovements parties In thissituation, radical right-wing lives. individuals’ of aspects all virtually affecting change Right-Wing Extremism in Romania ”. 182 The Greater Romania Party (PRM) is a clear example of it. 180 65 , Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center, Cluj- Right-Wing Extremism in the Twenty-first 181 As a CEU eTD Collection 185 184 Relations, Budapest, Hungary,February 15-16, 2002, page9 183 anti-Western” and anti-Semitic, fundamentalist, receivingelections The 8%andrespectively. Catholic 11.4% LPR is“nationalist, parliamentary last the in successful relatively were parties Both (SO). Self-Defense populist and left-wing extreme the with alongside Party, Justice and Law the with government coalition the in is currently (LPR) Families Polish of League right-wing extremist 7.3.2 Poland elections, and received 8.3 % of %of popularthe andreceivedvote. 8.3 elections, parliamentary 2001 the before months eight only appeared LPR – Attack Coalition the with Jews, and other groups” other and Jews, 7.3.3 Slovakia denouncingand hate-speech intolerance. not while positions, ministerial hold currently SO and LPR both of leaders the time, same the came thirdvictorious in as 2005presidentialthe with elections At15.1 %of popularthe vote. elections, no extreme-right wing candidate had electoral success, Lepper, the leader of SO Hungarian andsentiments, claimsthat Hungarian the minority is oppressing the Slovak anti- incites Jan Slota itsopenly leader, Slota. to is largely attributed parties, radical 11.6 % of the popular vote. The success parliamentary in Party in last Socialists 2006.Inthe elections European of 2006, SNSwon of SNS, as is the case with party AsSmer. aresultof suspended coalition,Smerthis got from membershipits in the many other right-wing Ibid., page 8 Ibid. “Political Extremism and Interethnic Relations in the New Millennium”, Princeton Project on Ethnic In Poland radical political parties and formations have been strong historically. The historically. strong been have formations and parties political radical Poland In In Slovakia, the Slovak National Party (SNS) is “based on of ishatred Hungarians, “basedon Party SlovakIn Slovakia, National (SNS) the 185 . Nevertheless, SNS is in a coalition government with acenter-left with government a coalition is in SNS . Nevertheless, 66 183 . An important similarity be can drawn similarity An important . 184 While in the last three presidential three last in the While CEU eTD Collection Krieger, and William A. Joseph, third edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004, page 90. 188 187 in entered the governingindiplomatic coalition 2000,which It resulted 1999 (26.9%). FPO’sfrustrations of with successunchanging led population the governing in coalition to general the However, anti-immigrant. and xenophobic were termed speeches Haider’s and party’sthe platforms Both Haider. personality of charismatic tothe being attributed of mostthe controversial formationspolitical inEurope. The party’s success largelywas 7.3.5 Austria government. in acoalition been never has FN imprisoned. and acts racist of for FNhavebeen condemned members Several rhetoric. even anti-establishment respectively. FN has a xenophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, and sometimes 14.9 12.4 % %,and FNelections %, lastthe vote got 11.3 of parliamentary general three the last presidential elections his support has slightly declined to10.44 %. It is noteworthy that in Fifth of French history Republic” the surprise in fifty-year greatest nearly the the elections17.8 Leit which run %of to the Penmade and “produced got off generalvote, the establishment. Le Pen’s personality is factor a major in FN’s success. In 2002 presidential within sinceits been in Lehierarchy its has who party Pen power the leaderJean-Marie 7.3.4 France inSlovakia. politician trusted most second < Party”,Hungarian Human Rights Foundation, September5, 2006, Motivated Attacks Increase Against Minorities in theWake of New Slovak Government Formed with Extremist 186 land. own their on majority http://www.hhrf.org/sdoc/euw.slovakia.no1.pdf Kesselman, Mark, “France”, in “France”, Mark, Kesselman, Ibid. From an interview of Jan Slota to Lidové Noviny, onJuly 22, 2006; excerpt takenfrom “Ethnically- Prior to seceding from the party in 2005, Jorg Haider’s Freedom Party Haider’s seceding(FPO) wasone inJorg Party Prior Freedom party tothe from 2005, with (FN) Front is National inFrance party nationalist far-right successful most The 186 Introduction At the same time, a recent social poll reported that Slota is the to Comparative Politics >, last accessedMay on 24, 2007 187 67 , edited by Mark Kesselman, Joel Kesselman, by Mark edited , 188 . In the In . CEU eTD Collection 189 topped the opinion poll in ratings over 30percent 2002 with of popular support” extremists in Norway came as a surprise. “Carl Hagen’s Norwegian Progress Party (FrP) of beuseful. Theunprecedentedsuccess somein exampleswould the region. Nevertheless, 7.3.6 Othercases of (BZO). forAustria theFuture Alliance of the creation andHaider’s strife internal due to parliamentary 10 %andelections FPOgot 11% respectively.FPO wasweakened in2005 sanctions being imposed Austriaon by fourteen member-states. EU In subsequentthe Relations, Budapest, Hungary, February 15-16, 2002 191 Williamand A. Joseph, third edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004, page 64. 190 Extreme Right Challenge for long. last claim will this that to areready analysts none of the political parties, upsurge of right-wing account radical into recent the taking hasthat infaris beenimmune right-wing Europe radicalismso Portugal. to aArguably,(AN) andin -in twice onlycountry the entered coalition 2001. government1994 Nazionale In Italy Alleanza counterparts. as successful as its continental level BNPisnot West and Roytom BNP’s candidates won 11 castper for the far-right racistcent British National Party of(BNP) in 2001 on thethe local level. In Oldhamvote.votes highest the witnessed Britain ‘peaceful’ traditionally Furthermore, inNorway. party FrP becoming largest 2005elections, whichled after the popularity increased to second the Eatwell, Roger, “Introduction: the new extreme right challenge”, in challenge”, right extreme new the “Introduction: Roger, Eatwell, “Political Extremism and Interethnic Relations in the New Millennium”, Princeton Project on Ethnic in “Britain”, Joel, Krieger, Due to the limitations of this paper, Iwill not analyze other extreme right-wing parties , edited by RogerEatwell and Cas Mudde,Routledge, 2004, page 1. Introduction to Comparative Politics 68 , edited by Mark Kesselman, Joel Krieger, Joel Kesselman, by Mark edited , Western Democracies and the New 190 However, on a national a on However, 191 Nevertheless, 189 . Its CEU eTD Collection 194 the All same. the is essence its However, in CEE. and Europe Western in extremism wing states. and CEE forin indifferent Western trends far-right the support generalize electoral European about of the East-West Institute, former Hungarian Deputy Defense Minister, 193 192 isnoticeable and support inAustria decrease in Romania. electoral in canbe While Slovakia; and observed vote shareincrease Norway the far-right. of the during their history of existence.extreme right-wing political parties haveenteredcoalition into atonepointgovernments France, Italy,unique FN with France of andFrPof Norway. Inall cases other analyzed in the chapter andthis Poland demonstrate relative stability in leaders. very and their by charismatic often represented right extreme the better interests their find voters ‘lost’ These region. CEE in the stable been never has and Europe Western wouldof inapt, sinceprotest be traditional is partisanship indeclinegenerally all over system” emergence of the extreme right, as various radical elements look for solution outside the According toGyarmati, on the other hand, “there is a general trend in Europe which is the re- far-right the support for that stresses politics, right-wing extreme of repercussions the and importance the diminishing not while radicalpartiesinEurope ofright-wing assessment 7.3.7 Comparative The electoral results of the last three national elections are presented in Table 5 in Table presented are elections national three last ofthe results electoral The “The World; Hungary’s Odd Affairs with the Right”, interview with IstvanGyarmati, 1 page senior Eatwell, vice-president Various arguments can be made about the nature of the differences between between right- of differences the nature the canbemadeabout arguments Various In terms of the participation of the far-rightin coalition governments, Bulgaria stands Although some analystsextremethe in is claimthat right indemise.Europe Eatwell, 193 . In any case, dismissing the importance of the rise of the extreme right as a wave a as right extreme the of rise the of importance the dismissing case, any In . elections just halfits over 27per centrecord 1999 the in achieved Haider’sJörg Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) fell in 2002 to third of inthe forthis elections,2003 Dutch while support in toa 2002 vote centof support slumpedthe 17 per from Fortuyn’s Pim List populist the volatile: been often has 192 . 69 New York Times 194 Therefore, one cannot one Therefore, , May 12, 2002 CEU eTD Collection ‘Europeanized’. yet is not Bulgaria be this regards historical. In to Romaminorities are considered the the society. Bulgaria, in thissense, is atrue representative ofits region, since the Turkish and of ills all of cause the as minorities historical the against rhetoric xenophobic its directs right cutting those advocate rights formations political extreme or mainstream no forOtherwise, minorities. ethnic and historical minorities. national of existence the recognize even not does government the there but France, in hold On the other hand, in the CEEGermany, and the Swedishminority in Finland. One could arguethat these models donot region the far- Relations, Budapest, Hungary, February 15-16, 2002 197 196 195 Austria. in with Western in by questioned of a debatableexception Haider far-right Europe, the chauvinism” “welfare Thisistypical Europe. Western of democracies in established the systems irritants” regardedas“universal immigrants, whoare the against is directed rhetoric xenophobic the Europe in Western fact is that the those features. country-specific distinct with similar are in Europe parties right-wing extreme all essence In parties. in leaders, these party the namely of personalities, importance isthe similarity noteworthy Another language. hatred-full their soften none governments, show desire for accommodation or assimilation. And even when entering coalition far-right parties analyzed in this chapter display xenophobic and racist rhetoric. None of them “Political Extremism and Interethnic Relations in the New Millennium”, Princeton Project on Ethnic Ibid. Merkl, page 27 At the same time, their differences should not be disregarded. The mostimportant of 197 Examples can be drawn from South Tirol in Italy, the Danish minority in minority Danish the inItaly, Tirol South from drawn be can Examples 196 . The multicultural models of the protection of historical minorities are never are minorities historical of protection the of models multicultural The . 70 195 that use the merits of social welfare CEU eTD Collection Coalition governments Coalition results Electoral Table 5: Electoral results of right FN FPO no 14.95 26.9 15.7 13.8 13 11.0 12.3 11.3 e e oysys e no yes yes yes yes no yes 10.0 12.0 AN FrP LPR 71 22.1 14.6 15.3 existence governments at any point inthe history of their national elections, and theirparticipation in coalition three last the in Europe across parties extreme wing 8.0 13.0 11.73 8.0 8.3 19.48 - 4.46 9.07 - 4.46 PRM Attack SNS 3.3 - 8.14 CEU eTD Collection the country,the following ‘role the and The model’ Western the of democracies. established alter the eroding structures, which were considered to be the legacy of the Communist past of necessity to of out passed they were made that be can Arguments amendments. these behind reasons the on concentrate possibly could topic the into research A further CEE. of region from itWest the of the anddistanced established the Bulgaria closer democracies to brought andelections political the to parties legal pertaining tothe amendments provisions recent the that hasrevealed Thisanalysis which party isconducted,wasexamined. politics the addition to literature reviews on each of the variables, were used to proceed with the analysis. in interviews, personal and platforms, party of analysis discourse as well as program, SPSS the of functions In-built continuum. a ‘more-or-less’ on question research the answerto the depict to chosen Ihaverather not, or fully ‘Europeanized’ be considered casecan Bulgarian ‘Western’, i.e.the into fall does politics and system Europeanized party Bulgarian if the is thesis this of question research camp or basic The not. other. the on CEE and hand Sinceone the on Europe Western of that to therecompared is no definite was variables above-mentioned the of each to answer regards with in Bulgaria situation The to whether the are: variables in These Bulgaria. party politics whichlevel pictureand data, of drawabroader the of would quantitative of Europeanization politics. Itwasdoneby five analyzing separately differentvariables, usingboth qualitative 8. Conclusion Prior to analyzing each of the above-mentioned variables, the legal framework, in The depictisaim thesisthis of to level the of party Europeanization Bulgarian the of 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. the existence of ‘extreme trends’ in party politics. politics, of ethnic nature the party-based Euroscepticism, elections, parliamentary innational turnouts voter itself, system of electoral nature the the 72 CEU eTD Collection one would argue that they are more ‘Eastern’ not. than more ‘Eastern’ that they wouldare one argue in Bulgaria, patterns turnout voter of Europeanization of level the assess is to one if Overall, for decades. rule andpseudo-elections thathave experienced one-party incountries elections freefair first and werethe fact these that least tothe at partly due 1989were after elections first in the turnouts high extremely the that noteworthy is it Nevertheless, gradual. was decline the of course butthe from starting 1989, amuch sharperdecline have demonstrated included) theCEE (Bulgaria region of countries the At sametime, the be significant. not to However, contrary whatto most researchers claim, the decline in Western Europe was shown aswell. countries Western inEuropean be observed This could CEEstates. the majority of demonstrating amixture of two. the yet others while perspectives, ‘Western’, ‘Eastern’ some demonstrating truly others typically aspects of each of them show different trends in terms of their level of Europeanization,in Furthermore, couldnoticeall continuum. one various four variables, that the these of with existence of ‘extreme’ trends in party politics, Bulgaria was assessed on ‘more-or-less’a the and politics, of ethnic nature the the Euroscepticism, party-based elections, parliamentary fourinWith variables, elections. other namely, regards tothe voter turnouts national the national first the PRsystem of the after the adoption ‘family’ since Western the member of a became Bulgaria that argued itwas systems, electoral of the nature of the case in the Bulgaria isvery is It unique. neither fully nor is‘Europeanized’, it Only ‘Eastern’. typically caseof the that overall has revealed politics and system party of Bulgarian Europeanization step closer to the ‘role models’ of Western Europe. a Bulgaria of system legal the brought which of each in stages, came amendments of process Voter isVoter in turnout Bulgaria onaverage in inpercentages similar the decline, to An examination of each of the variables chosen to analyze the level of 73 CEU eTD Collection communal autonomy, ethnic the other parties unlike in Just examinedlike chapter. the the or cultural, territorial, neverclaimed MRFhas the fact that is model the ethnic Bulgarian of uniquefeature Another the Bulgaria of veryprohibition. existence this uniqueisthe religion, ethnicity,formation despite the existing constitutional ban on the formation of political parties based on empiricallyrace, ordemonstrated othersimilarities thatsimilar the Movement factors.for Rights and Freedoms with continent. the across nations InEuroenthusiastic fact, (MRF) isWestern an oneethnic most of the one considered always publicwas Bulgarian the whole. Moreover, of the featuresEuropenever membership againstthe in Unionthe againstintegrationor and closer cooperation as a that and make CEE. In the chapter on ethnic politics I have wanted to renegotiate only some of the chapters of of the chapters ofthe only some renegotiate to wanted Eurosceptic. It could somehow Attack felt, beconsidered only parties isstrongly Coalition suicide’. Unlike mostthe of arenathe other thatCEEEuropean trends were identifiedstates, while analyzing it. Moreover, there are nohave political parties on where a profoundthe presence of EuroscepticEurosceptic geographical neighbors. political outlook,losswithout Bulgariavote, of pay to canbe classified as state a more itsthan Europeanized since forlaw of employees existence a for off time the theElection and Day, procedures, voting thisspecial and registration voter namely turnouts, voter would affecting factors and technicalities entail ina ‘political the country, (proxy,special voting mobile and advanced, votingvoting, procedures postal and/or stations) sameAtthe areno is there time, Europeanized. Bulgaria completely (weekend vs.weekday) which is very atypical for Europe as a whole. Overall, in terms of In terms In terms of ethnic politics very Bulgaria displays despite features unique many In terms of voter registration procedures (state- vs. citizen-initiated) and Election Day and Election vs.citizen-initiated) (state- procedures registration voter of In terms Bulgaria is a unique case study in terms of party-based Euroscepticism. No Western No Euroscepticism. in party-based of is casestudy Bulgaria a unique terms 74 acquis communautaire acquis , but itbut was , CEU eTD Collection country where there is a right-wing radical party, i.e. in all of them, Coalition Attack voices Attack in all them, i.e. Coalition of party, is radical a right-wing there where country CEE like inother democracy.any behind’ established However, ‘fall Bulgariaany doesnot rhetoric in party politics.be. to would beexpected In terms it than less‘Europeanized’ is thatit attest one thus could Western Europe, general of than of display in of CEE ismore Bulgarian it symptomatic the iscase samethat the time, noteworthy of radicalin coalition governments (with the exception of Spain); and their relativeattitudes electoral success. At parties of these participation the of Spain); exception notable (with a of parties demands the on the politicalethnic parties duringinitial the phases transition; of to the techniques usedin pursuing the scene of for formation minoritiesrepressions whichgaveleverage the analyzed, ethnic the of these limited previous the are not to butinclude Those identified. thatwere similarities many whereincluded Basque wereneverin the parties coalition governments). the for Spain, both do make governmentsand with center-left(except center-rightcoalition system, the votes on the national level get divided. Interestingly,in all cases the ethnic parties party theBasque of fragmentation high the to due where Spain,of is case the exception The population. total of the represents group theethnic thepercentages roughly resembles share in of vote manner.The from parties national pursue those these the elections a peaceful the parties have remainedethnic under groups Onlyin theprevious regimes. Spain Bulgaria and theinitial of demands the same. And all respective faced by their injustices the combat to surfaced initially All had party. those of of them, with the notable by is political one minority represented for ethnic Spain, the casesanalyzed, except other exception of Spain, The last variable that was introduced in this thesis was the extremist right-wing the despite nature, has avery unique inBulgaria ethnicpolitics the In conclusion, 75 CEU eTD Collection Development of Bulgaria) Development 200 199 only the political platforms were taken into account. far-rightist political ideologies within the same party, especially in CEE. However, forthe purposes of this thesis 198 of minorities historical country. againstthe the its xenophobic attitudes current major of Sofia, called GERB called majorSofia, of current the of party political the namely, arena, political Bulgarian the on force new a of emergence typically ‘Eastern’. isin extremist Bulgaria the averthat rhetoric recognizedConsequently, can assuch. one is minority historical no since exist, not do simply models multicultural state, French the of policies non-recognition the to due where in France, Front National Pen’s Le Second, historical the minority. voicedSlovene against rhetoric extreme its some would argue, tothisexceptions Haider’s be First, Freedom inrule can identified. which,as Austria, Party chauvinism” “welfare of display typical a – immigrants the against directed usually is rhetoric xenophobic the countries, In these minorities. historical the with coexistence models of themulticultural challenge inWestern Europe, parties none far-right of the campaigns. Its members are not even represented in the Parliament, since in the last national in last since the intheParliament, even represented members not are Its campaigns. nevergave abigleverage competing was,which tothe in parties of terms electoral the even above the ruling Socialistelections party. into the European Parliament, whereIt GERB iswas victorious. noteworthy Its vote share placedit that buttheirmainstream This membersduring was particularly aswell. actors, evident the GERB is not in power now, and other of the voters notthe only attracts GERB though, is clear Onething extremist. or centrist left, or right – orientation its claim surely can analyst political No increasing. is GERB of influence The realm. new a in case Bulgarian the of peculiarities interesting the displayed and reality, thepolitical shook GERB of The appearance onthe topic. research The abbreviation stands for Grajdane Za Evropeysko Razvitiye na Blgariya (Citizens for the European the for (Citizens Blgariya na Razvitiye Evropeysko Za Grajdane for stands abbreviation The Merkl, page 27 and dogmas economic of leftist co-existence the acknowledges author the that mentioned previously was It Due to the limitations on the time frame of this research, I could not address the not could I research, this frame of time limitationsthe on the Due to 200 . However, it would be an interesting area for further for area interesting an be would it However, . 76 198 At the same time, same Atthe 199 . Two CEU eTD Collection of utmost necessity. MRF plays the role of the ‘balancer’ between the claims ofin the cities theand towns, the overallTurkish result on the national level tends to be lower. turnouts low very to due time, same the At leverage. absolute an has MRF the where regions, will in rise,aswell ‘mixed’ the as the be on turnout voter in that areas the rural the argued itcould be level ison However, rise. the the couldone aver that Bulgarians apathy among of witnessedfifty-six and percentturnout the an almost less first European thirty,elections than elections national last the that account into Taking more. even down plummet or level low same the on stay either inwill Bulgaria turnouts voter the that itcan be predicted Moreover, very already their accommodate to needs of andplatforms the electorate. the populistmarket-oriented alter to parties political the forces This states. neighboring the in situation the rise,notobserve easily can do living of standards economic whose Bulgarian, average of party-based Euroscepticismfast inBulgaria. Perhapsthis is fortoo aCEEcountry,but the alone the ineasily victory predictable municipalthe in elections 2007. September formmandate to national the let in2009GERBwill comingelections a government, get in the that made be could A prediction arena. political the on parties established other in than obvious is it thatsince platform, GERB GERB’s of is descriptions there their with tocautious more stay, are politicians and that the average peoplepossibility seem to have of morecooperation. trustmainstream virtually allthe with minor parties, exceptions,political denouncedany in GERB They claimed GERB is Calls be can heardfora acoalition now with GERB although to prior populist European the elections, formation. However,membersresignations of of prominent and right, the their for desperateattempts realignment. now the crushing of formationsall defeatcenter-right elections duringEuropean the ledtothe elections in 2005 GERBwasnotformally recognized asapolitical party.the Furthermore, As for the MRF, its existence is not only beneficial for the Bulgarian state, but is also but state, Bulgarian the for beneficial only not is existence its MRF, the for As Furthermore, the comingmunicipal willmost elections probably peak the demonstrate 77 CEU eTD Collection 201 is. Attack more triumphant the district, electoral inaparticular elections national the MRF during share of higherthe it the seems that thetwo, between establish hardis to adirectcause-effect voices,is relationship Although force ethnic on to the rise. the society. Bulgarian the by be tolerated not will which claims, radical expresses formation new this but it, position its everything possible reachtopreventstrong does within as a partner, coalition landscape political the But reveals recognition. official awaiting is formation ethnic another time, same the At that it will not get one in the years toby factMRF into that an the arguably evolved formation. and oligarchic corrupt come. Not only MRF,ethnic minorities, MRF isviewed in a highly skeptical manner. Thisis certainly exacerbated due to the itsabout country the in perceptions negative very to due time, same the At radicalism. riseof of the Islamic anda‘preventor’ stability of peaceand isethnic It aguarantor voiced. be will demands autonomy territorial further no that majority the assures and claims minority and the Bulgarian majority. Itis sort of a mediator that tunes down the minority Another contributingfactor to this arethefindings of November 2006social surveys, which electorate. the convince to actors centrist the of inability the and party, Socialist ruling percent of total the vote. This wascertainly by performanceexacerbated poor the of the in morelast fourteen national the European first than oritelections,elections got where inthe than successful less not be will Attack elections have municipal coming in the analysts that most predicted Furthermore, majority. Turkish ethnic numerical a with those but districts A comparative table is presented in Appendix 6 Appendix in presented is table Acomparative Not surprisingly, the success of the Coalition Attack, asaradical counterbalancing Attack, Coalition successof the surprisingly, the Not country. inthe party Turkish only is the MRF thesis, in the earlier mentioned was As 78 201 This is for all the all for is This CEU eTD Collection Society Institute, Sofia, < last accessed on May 20, 2007 202 of Europeanization the of features party politics. intending tofill in gap the currently present in academicthe literature concerning the specific also was It member-states. new in the patterns transformation identifying at aim will that project of a bigger comparative a part hasbeendone as conclude, work To not. this than features more ‘Europeanized’ show in of certainly politics party state affairs of current the exacerbated the complexities of the Bulgarian case. At the same time, the development trends living, in restof even the CEEstates, lowto the economically standardscomparison of economic conditions the system. Although of Bulgarian features the distinct of the creation the facilitated politics system and party in affairs the of state current werethe ledof formation the to that circumstances not partcase that stands aside in the region ofof CEE and in Europe as a whole. The dissimilarmy historical analysis, it is unbearable. important unacceptable and in country the situation the find Bulgarians thatfiftyof topercent attested mention, that the Garnizov, Vassil, “The Minority of Intolerance and the Radical Change”, Radical the and Intolerance of Minority “The Vassil, Garnizov, Overall, one cannot claim that Bulgaria is either Europeanized or not. It is Itclaim EuropeanizedOverall, aunique ornot. iseither one cannot Bulgaria that 202 http://politiki.bg/?cy=60&lang=2&a0i=222832&a0m=readInternal&a0p_id=167 79 Politiki.bg , Issue 12/06,Open >, CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x Agop Garabedyan Summaries Interview Appendix 1 threat If a state has a minority, and this minority wants emancipation, similar processes thereare Europe In all of Eastern the majority perceives it as a nationalism emerges therefore, and isavacuum, there ideology. Now wascommunist there and There wascommunism, Since all niches use have they the are occupied to this (ethnic)one makes Attack onthis its programs basis Coalition ethnic, and also there is an element of protest CoalitionAttack intolerance) thus,public in increase rates, crime is there therefore, vulnerable, are economically Roma (they the about besaid Same can The public opinion is negative occupied by ethnic Turks.Bulgarians are onlyin citiesthe MRF (MRF) history of stained memories historical past, Reasons for their emergence for theirReasons ideas has extreme/radical combined all these that party emerged extreme hadAll parties as a party has access to power. All positions on the local level in provinces are levelinprovinces local All onthe power. positions hasto access as a party extreme is not against the system as a whole. This is not political extremism, but extremism, political not is This whole. a as system the against not is people at one point during the transition, but for the first time an Æ socio-economic factors, nostalgia for the economically stable Main Points 80 Bulgarian Academy Academy of Bulgarian Sciences Institute Institute of Balkan Studies Director CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x However, Euroscepticism in Bulgaria could potentially become a strong force astrong become in potentially could Bulgaria Euroscepticism However, no tothe EUas a whole Bulgarians hope EU will fix Bulgaria, and look at it as at some sort of panacea. No one says Euroscepticism interconnected adGerb areclosely of MRF, Attack, activities and The existence it toward is EU more receptive anddiscourse, tendencies have nationalistic open not does Since Gerb for reason of the sweepingvictory NMSSpreviously is This undecided. are voters the of majority the but electorate, loyal hard its has party Every vote will forideas Gerb to Attack swing the of people presenting the If politicalarena the on this ideology present that with but people the ideology, disappointed with their not are forPeople them). complications plummetedforsplit Attack Coalition (thisSupport becausethe iswhatcreates In the coming European elections, Coalition Attack is predicted toparticipate weakly itNow is notxenophobia,a product but of ethnic political and socio-political circumstances Amendedmodel toleranceethnic of Bulgaria alwayshad atolerantsociety, never and xenophobic (sortof unique the for region) compromise a political of result is a parties political ethnic of existence The are imported but local theoutcomeof lawsdevelopments, the arenot In CEE, countries. specific On the contrary,autonomy) for desire and rights human between in (borders minorities Western Europe laws of rights the stipulate legislations of none the haveminorities and states European All Eastern resulted from mechanisms, which were intact in Gerb manages toget new peoplepresent to these ideas, the voters that are dissatisfied with is not in Bulgaria yet. It is still in the process of development 81 CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x Bulgaria. governmentbefore forvoted The that NMSS). element votes isof quiteprotest visiblein dissatisfiedSame happened duringvotes with protestthe previousthe general (peopleelections with the UDF government and still remembering the failure of the BSP (the UDF and the NMSS) lotof votes were derived from those that were dissatisfied with the previous two governments a time, same the At minority. important an constitute people These society. post-communist find not in years and didthat those themselves the 50 agewhostill the of remember past, Support for the socialistsin lastelectionsin the Bulgaria stability) buteveryone remembers security and remembersbasic freedoms, theeconomic thelackof The reasonsin except Czech Republic for this centrists, andthe socialists the of re-emergence are can the we witness region, the All over purely thecaseanymoreis not economic andIn the beginning of the transformation periodin the region, the right was strong. But now this to some reasons) extent nostalgic becausehementioned(check if theis potential inthesecountries, Euroscepticism there (hardlyEuroscepticism in Albania anyone EUagainstSerbia the enter to for Montenegro actors byoutside made artificially is separation think they because Euroscepticism in Montenegro Eurooptimists. Romanianot have does the same geostrategic problem inbeing feel EU,thus thepolitical more the secure border, isthe on parties right Geopolitics Can we say they constituted amajority in thelastgeneral electionswhen BSPwon? is very important here. Greece and Turkey are on the borders. And since Turkey Æ Æ protest votes Euroscepticbecause the EU will notgive leewaya theto mafia Æ those who voted against the referendum areEurosceptic voted referendum the thosewho against 82 Æ pensioners (mainly), those of 40- CEU eTD Collection x x In terms of legislature, Europeanization is over, but … there is still the problem monitoringof All of this is a result of the economic situation 83 CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x things Gerb in has This resulted Attack discontent of ethnicConsequently,the appeared the Bulgarians. The governmentneededtheir have party amajority to Turk an ethnic There in anyministry ishardly Bulgaria thatleast not have does adeputy at ministeris who ofitadvantage full take they and numerically deserve they that power more given was minority Turkish The They try to be more Bulgarian than Bulgarians is extreme-left Attack democracy threaten to enough strong not are they But Now no one talks about Zhirinovsky,for example others This type of political formations are present in the Netherlands, France, Romania, Russia, and solutions than rather bring conflicts Their attitudes abit down has calmed their rhetoric Now Attack reminds us of bad times. They constantly set one part of the society against another Communists; they are isolationists who do not want anyone to step onto Bulgarian soil the under nationalism old-fashioned like others);sounds acceptthe because patriots Coalition Attack Bulgaria is an island of political and, so far, economic stability Anastasia Moser is not an extremist party. It has a personal appeal, looks like Borisov is able to do Æ thispeople appeals to Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of Bulgarian National Coalition Æ populist claim demagogues; be to nationalistic (this isnot patriotism, Main Points 84 Member of Foreign Affairs Committee Affairs Foreign of Member CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Agrarians sign Center-right Attack played on it and got votes, but it is notas popular now as it used to be neither northe this, previous governmentsucceeded in itexplainingto people. Furthermore, be democratic). areto member-states its all since democracy itpromotes And isalot money. is there of EU a positive thing, case(because isnotthe which sovereignty, itsis. believegive understandEU up of not to willhave A lot Bulgaria They what people do electorate astable MRF has language country)the of Turks, they speak noBulgarian if (and wants itto makeinone Bulgaria, s/he should learn the Now they are trying to be for the people,MRF worksfor Dogan and hisrather entourage histhan people but high illiteracy ratesBerov’s regime pavedstill way for the socialists, which did not lastpersist long among ethnic they got the duringthird party status Roundtabletalks. the Butthings havechanged A lotof ethnic Bulgarians sympathized with Zhivkov’s after them and,policies consequently, MRF is anislandof peacein Bulgaria and Balkans ethnic the stability society isBulgaria apeaceful ethnically tolerant ethnic society of the in segments all has support His rhetoric is different from that of Attack it consolidate to trying is Borisov Currently, the Currently, let himbemajor not to everything asuccessful and does We judge. seehimasa majorhim will discredit However, governmentwants and then the to tried togetnon-Turks into its lists because ofArticle 11 are in a partnership with Gerb is very fragmented. There are no signs of consolidation. But Therearenosignsis consolidation. of fragmented. very center-right is in a disarray Æ 85 he has never talked against the minorities, he minorities, the against talked never has he Gerb is a hopeful CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x the Bulgaria’s official position on accession Bulgaria’s on official Turkey’s position Bulgaria’s role in the Balkans is important because itis an island of stability organized crime) corruption and handle (to reforms judicial to limited not are but include Bulgaria for challenges Other Learning how to get a hold of the EU money to modernize Bulgaria is agriculture farmersmodern and will sector what Weunderstand modernize the agricultural will Bulgaria falls behind all incountries EcologicalEurope. is agriculture a possibility countries. unlike European board), subsidize other was forbidden (financial agriculture It to Agrarians BSP no longer important, what matters is the interests Small political parties functions coalition The by tripartite each blackmailing other ally loyal and faithful a is Dogan and others as well) BSP Kostov, all country; the over structures have Agrarians onebecause wants (Stoyanov Cannot be together be Cannot Some exist only paper on even not registered. are of them Some recently. split wasanother There are split. Agrarians economy market Agrarians Agrarian party), Bulgaria traditionally is an agrarian country destroy (and every to Agrarians deeproots tried party the playarole: willalways thus acquis has a solid support. No matter how disappointed people are, they sill vote for them , it should join the EU in the EU want financial help for the people Æ centrist party party centrist social iswith strong socialagenda, Europe and talking about Æ are insignificant poppet parties.poppet are insignificant agendas. Principles They switch are every other political coalition wants an agrarian party with them 86 Æ if Turkey satisfies if of all provisions Turkey the Æ main challenge CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x is a mix is a electorate Their believe. many as transition, of losers the only not is Attack of electorate The electorate of BSP. is higherthan that Attack level of The averageeducational Bulgarianssovereignty themselves and that should preserve its loose would Bulgaria they time,the thought and EUat the entering Bulgaria was that fact the on choice their base They rationally. choose who ones the are there However, They do not choose rationally but based on negative emotions during lot a unsatisfied 17years, these most lost they arethe have particular in them and general in Bulgaria that thought who transition, isThe of electorate Attack of composed in disappointedpeopleangry whoare periodthe of big in of doesnothavepercentages a support terms that of Attack disease this witness Bulgaria isa bouquet of ethnicities. Having amazing this it tradition,is particularly painful to acceptablefor us some arenot itsBut of declarations It is normal a party exists that like Attack We developneedto handle problem special to that receptors ostriches like it from hide not should we but a problem, big of that not is extremism times, democratic new in the Bulgaria In ground for tolerance. But at the same time, there is economic emigration, and thus extremism is was There peoplemore Europe historically thus more dynamic area and Eastern tolerant. roots historical has extremism of phenomenon The IvanAtanasov Kolchakov Member of Parliamentary Group of the United Democratic Forces, DP, National Alliance- BAPU, BAPU, St. George’s Day Movement, Equal Social Model Movement Main Points 87 Member of Labor and Social Policy Committee Policy Social and Labor of Member Member of of Health Care Committee Member CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Attack (not successful), Gerb (optimistic expectations; still do not know what will know happen) not still do expectations; (optimistic Gerb successful), (not Attack justify hopes), not NMSS(did UDF government: the after of expectation There werewaves and choices weareNow accumulating again. trust Whenin opposition, weneed togive people options is people. This events of a normal sequence the of the looses trust force political governing the afterit governance, is But known that negotiations with the EU and NATO initiated political from the has forces. rightof The In rightthe 240 MPs125were 1997 out This is a hard period for the right The right has the following principles: subsidiarity, liberalism, democracy people in political rightthe arefree arena thinkers The right is a mix because overnight essence its changed BCP BCP wanted to create a convenient circlesstages through or opposition, and Forbecause a country the to pass throughthe BSP. They have helped the king (NMSS) and wanted to interfere with UDF the period of MRF, the have created They felt. bestrongly service canstill transition former secret of The influence into a full this leads problems to liberal democracy itThe same can be goeswitnessed in Russia, except Russia is toobig of a country, whilein Bulgaria him. trained serviceoldhad regime officer the and wasasecretpragmatically Dogan himself theMRF created services secret the Communism During comenot existence into normally did itself MRF but normal, not is vote ethnic an on primarily relies that aparty of Existence and legal frameworks values moral creating values, our accommodating still We are transition. in still is Bulgaria Æ similar to the Biblical notion of the move from hell to heaven 88 CEU eTD Collection x x things. And wemust acknowledge it policies of MRF on the one UDFhand, does and not the welcome Turkish the minority existenceis enslaved by the Turks. Both are very aggressive towards onthe MRF theof MRF,other, Bulgaria say Both minority. butTurkish the and MRF are to isin relation similar not are twoAttack and Gerb aggressivedifferent to it. The politics and 89 CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x Kostadin Paskalev Gerb is very different from from Gerb is Attack very different the left success right, equal or with All formations in Bulgarianyears as well. for areareason politics postponed been have are that problems thegovernance and same.governmental Pure ones. national the as In this sense, Borissov aswell problems, social is unsolved the andMRF.It Attack between is noconnection There can be the united party is a purely political Itisdecision. badfor Bulgaria and dangerous for Europe of MRF asapolitical But registration the succeeded. it Later of Bulgaria. Constitution of the was In 1990 toregisterdeniedwhen it wanted right asaparty,MRF Article thatbased 11 on arealsopoints ofAttack thephilosophy play These feelings. for on extreme people to anenvironment created All perceptions.these political politics force), wrong lednegativeon issuewhich Roma the to impressions and than rather asanethnic methods strength, of because MRF, their but in government are the playpeople in to on (not becauseextreme feelings, MRF’s Turks participation government for environment an created also have issues social unsolved nationalistic, it: of direction This is a good environmenthappened yet for extremism. Therelivesthought their will transformed Butnone overnight. get of their expectations have are different reasonsexplain for it and differentto thePeopleunderstand did not what the EUwasall whileabout, the politicians did. They notdid people, the EUrelatively late is in wehaveentered because slow Bulgaria Europeanization however, what the economic benefits of membership are. People Deputy Chairperson of Local Self-Government, Regional Policy and Urban Development Member of Parliamentary Group Coalition for Bulgaria for Coalition Group Parliamentary of Member Main Points 90 Member of andMember of Budget Finance Committee Committee CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x NGOs in must haveBulgaria aunitedvision must work and together Challenges in the EU inthe Challenges visible be can Bulgaria from politicians that so him, to ½ wish his to MPsfrom of go party. I’d beBulgaria will all ¼ can madethat Predictions European are ofwhothey an emphatic manner in Bulgarianslists inhisregardless He includesethnic party He has extendedhisinfluenceover Romathe well minority as isDogan a politiciangood and waspreparedwell by secret servicethe with 200,000 votes MRF the wasgivento negotiations, Turkishthe the ethnos Roundtable As aconsequence of Turks It wasthoughtMRF would that helpcontrol Communist the government to and contain the If one analyzestheMRF MPs from 1990, 99%of them linkedwere services to secretthe All political parties are BSP outcomes. BSP itself is a BCP outcome benefits social and sentiments nationalistic on based talk all They people. Balkan all of is typical This as people centrist than more left-oriented are Bulgarians Generally, weak in never so was right Bulgaria Only Kostov’s party arena force Bulgarian political the on political is a serious rightist right for the makea funeral wecan than government rightist for the alternative If heisthe party. The restHe doesnot givejust solutions, talksparticular about issues andhas no visionbroader are separate parties. Borissov himself is just animage. There are no deep ideas underlying him The political Gerb flirts with the US, forms a European image Æ the national and local administration, the economic subjects and the 91 CEU eTD Collection x relationships with other countries other with relationships In terms foreignof Bulgariapolicy, main hastwo issues: the EU and working out trade 92 CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x Marin Lessenski It presented itself as an anti-establishment party itself asananti-establishment presented It Its electorate is from both left and right Afterwards, until 2004 there was no extreme nationalism, when beginning of transformationthe period) defend interests to national committees Currently, Coalition Attack is just noise weredisappointed discourse their anti-corruption support its of lot a lost Attack Coalition Recently, websites anti-Semitic Russia from derived mainly is it Bulgaria; for uncommon very is rhetoric anti-Jewish The Their rhetoric is anti-Turkish, anti-Jewish, against and Turkey and toRussianultra-nationalists) similar Austrian, Flemish, and French nationalists, but the rhetoric of Coalition Attack is much closer the to close (very own their is on Attack Coalition Parliament European in the Interestingly, can beSimilarities in found Poland disadvantaged electorate of the profile the a threat, as integration European whoperceive those transition’, of isfrom ‘losers the derived The mainsupport However, extreme nationalism dates back to early back 90s to nationalism extreme dates However, Extremist trends Gerb is the second political is secondpolitical force the in last politics emergedbefore Bulgarian the general elections Main Points Æ left-wing extremism (BSP was nationalistic in the nationalistic was (BSP extremism left-wing 93 Institute for Regional and International Studies Æ alternative; hence, such support such hence, alternative; Æ those that voted for them because of them for voted that those Æ Æ smaller towns, economically towns, smaller backlash to liberalization to backlash CoalitionAttack Director of Programs emerged Æ CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x quo terrorist organization IRA into the political process) political the into IRA organization terrorist a of lines (inclusion same the along becharacterized can Ireland Bosnia; Northern about quo status part of the became Fighters Freedom Albanian the 2001 be(after with Macedonia can similarities drawn other way round way other itwas the whileBulgaria in each other, battling were nationalisms theredifferent (because formerfrom Yugoslavia different countries: completely European other itComparingto Bulgaria for beneficial initially was MRF of existence The issues religious and identity with play They votes the mobilize them helps which government, Turkish the with connections excellent has It all votes Turkish MRF takes the legal presenting asconstitutionally themselves in them helps which Turkish, ethnically not are that lists their on members of lot a has MRF MRF fact he likethe People nationalist that is amoderate/mild which is notonly unconstitutional, butalso extremely corrupt againstisTurks ethnic not His rhetoric this is what people like same believestime, play Bulgaria should back not (is closureagainstthe ofKozlodouy) Borisov is a moderate/mild nationalist moderate/mild isa Borisov disappeared political arena haspractically Mainly, has the support of center-right voters because the center-right of the Bulgarian is in Liberal International in Liberal is Æ transformed the conflict into political); the Bulgarian case is not unique; isinto political);not case Bulgarian the transformedthe conflict Æ armed conflict transformed into a political one); same can be said samecan one); apolitical into transformed armed conflict Æ per se per against MRF, but pro-EU and pro-NATO, at the 94 , but against the existence of MRF asaparty, existenceof against the but , Æ better to have them turned into status into turned them have to better Æ CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x UFD and with a helicopter delivered aspeech Roma,the butitgot cancelled in in last suddenly,Dogan appeared the moment, stadium the last momentlast toMRF their they gave support/votes The example of bargaining process different segments of the population, they sell political power, it is part of the political Small parties evenany not get probably seats) will supportisthe very much declining),6. UDF,7. DSB (similar toChristian mostDemocrats, but urban center-rightvoters, middle classes, and 5.NMSS(takes Attack, law), Coalition 4. new electoral the of because butwilllose some votes, Turkish havethe MRF (will Gerb, 3. 2. elections, 1.BSP, tothe European thecountry prior opinion According across polls to BSP nopublic couldsuch; therefore, place disorders take lacknot type culture, of (from of political Eastern Europe) has restof the Bulgaria adifferent will Gerb’s support whileAttack’s increase, will support decrease Gerb political arena Coalition Attack is no longer isno Attack extremist Coalition very easily CoalitionAttack itless harmless became process hasBulgaria noradicalism like that Gerb is a phenomenon combines that thebigbusiness and poor the might play with Euroscepticism, because it became politically fashionable itbecause became politically play might Euroscepticism, with Æ ’s support is’s support derived from urbanthe middleand classes involved in floating coalitions Æ they they will continue having representation notbut strongthat anymore Æ Euroroma a lot of them were established by the bigger parties to dwell votes from is not that strong.They havelostlot agood is organization,but a of support Æ were created by BSP to get the center-right votes, but in the but votes, center-right the get to BSP by created were Æ once Coalition Attack was included into the political the into included was Attack Coalition once Æ currently no extremism (right or left) on the on left) or (right extremism no currently 95 Æ Bony and Azis had a concert mainly for CEU eTD Collection x gained legitimacy gained political leader, andthus the scene from then entered pan-European started a charismatic support Gerb; Gerb andlikes to that promised Peoples’ Party European administrators; BOrisovsome from got members partiesother who would potentially be goodEuropean Party; Peoples’ European the cooperation with agood has Gerb center-right; to alternative Gerb Æ willbe socialized and Europeanized inthe looks at WestEU. The it as apromising 96 CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x moderator. Anditmoderator. achieved success of camps, sort the thetwo between translator the play center, therole of the cameNMSS to quoNMSS destroyed status the of bipolarthe political model by of society segmentthe positively large a very The change wasaccepted This impressed Bulgarians, which led to the victory of NMSS in the national elections political arena with a dialogue and aconsensual model replaceproblems of his intention to society. on persisting thebattle the the Simeon declared platform as well. The declarationserve party asthe to was which adeclaration, delivered backfrom Spain, Simeon came appealed to the society with ledwell. totheappearanceof This NMSS the new manner to solve the The two camps witnessed a lot of turmoil within them; a lot until 2001 of events diminished the two as between redand the blue the the period There wasastruggle camps transition all throughout Now it is hard to say if that was the best option for Bulgaria, but it was unavoidable a bipolar political environment (BSP vs. UDF) Having this new, but in fact old, restored political parties under the umbrella of UDF, created anticommunism of idea Stanimir Ilchev A new formed was force others) and Party Conservative Party, Radical Party, Democratic (Social parties political traditional witnessed amixture of newandtraditional approachesandideas. Bulgaria oldthe restored had of in Unlike transition Bulgaria the inthe situation Russia beginning the period, Æ classical components of transition of components classical Æ UDF Æ acocktail a lotof of ideas and united approaches bythe Main Points 97 Spokesman NMSS CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x prevented the creation of other ethnic and religious political parties. This could have led to a led to have could This parties. political andreligious ethnic of creation other the prevented and Muslims Bulgarian the among radicalization the MRF prevented the of activities the and Bulgaria did not only profitfrom the creation of MRF, butit was lucky as well. The existence is of clear: like MRF.And from very existence answer a party the the profited Bulgaria The whether isproblem not MRF is an not.ethnic party Theor real isquestion whether well scene relatively political to balancethe MRF’s contribution to ethnic peacein Bulgaria isvery big. During thebipolar period, it used regard in that right are they And society. in the balancer the of role the plays that party, national MRF itself does not want to be accepted and Constitutionalperceived Court of Bulgaria as an ethnic political party,MRF but as a was registeredIn 2001theunion between NMSS andwas nothing MRF natural but as a politicalmembers of the Roma community who have adopted Islam as theirparty religion with Bulgarianthe permissioncitizens, and the Bulgarian primarily comes from Muslims, ethnicTurkishthe minority, which10% roughly of constitutes the of andwhich amount electorate interpretationits that toimplies roughly‘Ethnic’ party. political liberal and 2%, ethnic moderate asa is MRF well as the by the membership EU policy: membership full in NATO andcomplying with chapterof the for acquisthe the future foreign of terms in agenda its on priorities main two had it power, to came NMSS When NMSS is a party of reformers, which is notfocused on a battle centrists. And alot of people were happy say to that they are centrists, liberal democrats as but right, or left as not themselves identify to achance given were people Bulgarian the regime, Zhivkov’s of collapse the after history Bulgarian first inthe time For the 98 CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x problems (inter-ethnic relations) (inter-ethnic problems isAttack givingsimple (Bulgaria solutions forBulgarians)complicated to and delicate inbuildingparticipating anew Bulgaria been have They in Bulgaria. foreigners not are Roma and Turks because is dangerous Attack Attack position for have may communists. the These people vote lostduring their advantageous they minority; Roma of the arepresentative by performed from a theft have suffered relatives beinsomewhere Bulgaria,where talked it inBulgarian; was supposedto their them or Theirsome feelings haveare toextent They understandable. language Turkish heardthe exploits feelings people of these Attack the anything satisfiedwith whoarenot voters, butactual their is everybody against In fact,Attack It does not have a well shaped ideology Attack was born from a private TV channel (SKAT) political niche on the arena There wasanationalistic this wasfuel for the Coalition to emergeAttack was true on a smallscale It regions. influence beyond Turkish the sphere of extend their want to to arethought Turks interests. national serving for not criticized being are ministers Some and Turkish insome regions. There is Turks Bulgarian between a lackof confidence a outcome andnot natural creation, is an Attack artificial Coalition such parties in the region, e.g. Kosovo and Macedonia. This facilitates the dialogue MRF as a isparty getting intoranks, its moreand moreBulgarians is which nottypical for for instance day modern Macedonia, competition inamong them, which asituation turn would haveled to is in that present Æ a cocktail of everything one can ever imagine 99 Æ CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x much longer, or maybe Gerb will unite them under one umbrella for maybe two, or year a maybe fragmented: stay right the will long how predict to hard is It They had base noeconomic have a control over the resources in the country in the resources the over control a have They notfind did in strength overcome themselves to the differences, the and UDFdidnot people split bright these government, anewquality creating of Instead strong andpeople bright between when the appeared battles first in first appeared the The political right the problems It hasavery platform andvague confused parliament next in the nationalistic extremely and interesting but isolated, remain will Attack make notwould an withGerb but with Attack alliance of lot because parties a Attack, Gerband between difference very isserious This others. a and Party, Haider’s Freedom Front, National include LePen’s Themembersof ITS far-right. and nationalistic extremely as is described that Parliament European in the group political is a European Peoples’ Party, while Attack is a member of Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty, which believes that Gerb EU, of the isvery critical Attack of differences: lot a are there sametime, the At EU is a good well as behavior in their observed be can Similarities prospect for aswell) enemies theforeign Attack the future both use the us vs. of they rhetoric (‘them’includes thegovernment, the parliament,for and Bulgaria;most because of the poor; both employGerb the tactic of self-victimizationappeal to to the people; the suffers who person wantsthe macho, the man, strong the of role the play to prefer both leaders: to join the There are some small similarities between Attack and Gerb, especially when it comes to their solid position. An erosion of Attack has started itsreachedAttack peakof more the last Ithas success elections. presidential noduring the Æ Stoyanov, Kostov, Sokolov, Mikhaylova, and others 100 Æ these are the reasons for their split CEU eTD Collection x x x x these parties. This process has already started hasalready process This parties. these leave will A lot professionals of these of board governance. people areoff these the pity that before the elections. They try getto ashare of power. Sometimes they have experts and itis a especially flexible very are They events. of center the in be to try others and them), of lot area (there Agrarian Greens,the Unionists bigthe The parties. while infactthey supported Small parties Small It could outbeing turn adrama the rights in is who who of illustration solid first the be will elections European first the of results The Mladenov Abadjiyev, Moser, Gerb: of umbrella the under witnessed be already can regrouping Some Æ some are artificial created from outside to sustain the feeling of pluralism, of feeling the sustain to outside from created artificial are some 101 CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x consumptionists liberal- be considered areto parties left right:all political is no the or there In Bulgaria EU We againstthe arenot negotiations. during accession were the neverprotected interests protectthat must our In the EUwe Le Pen,Haider bewith can drawn Parallels nationalists. European very the is to close not Attack Coalition was it. That book. anti-Semitic an wrote is case.his youth Sidorov notthe this During but Somewe areanti-Semites, think right nor left is neither Attack Coalition Turks and the Roma, the military is almost non-existent itsforReasons popularity: industry destruction of and agriculture, confrontation with the forperspectives development Stanislav Stanilov The five parties) has (acoalition of Attack sostrong Coalition emerged that was The resentment No one ever asked Bulgarians if they want tobe in the EU or NATO which was because problemsThiswrong, started. ledto victorythe of NMSS privatization has ruined thelocal industry, thus Euroscepticism emerged in country,the by EU,his hisall terms proposed agreed on the deals government the also they offered, UnderKostov governmentthe negotiatingstarted with WB andIMF agreeingonall the After Videnov countries European from other differently in develop processes Bulgaria The political Coalition Attack Coalition Æ disastrous Vice Chairman of the Permanent Parliamentary Commission for Culture derives its support from the intelligentsia that is left with no future, no future, no with left is that intelligentsia the from support its derives Main Points Member of Parliament from Attack from Coalition the Parliament Member of 102 Member of Education Committee andof Science Education Member CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Production Production quota in in agriculture EUforthe Bulgaria is lowvery + Kozloduy In the European Parliament Attack will form a coalition with Le Pen, etc. both parties of stance is anti-corruption the Attack with might overlap voters the where The only point vote to go ones loyal very the only and low very is turnout the generally because European elections will be a test for them beatest will elections European while a short for survive will Gerb (former right) andthe NMSS power is The himfrom support madeacareerGerb’s derived foundhimand king those who want Gerb formation political become an oligarchic have they an Moreover, party. ethnic not but representation We willhave an ethnic problem in Bulgaria as long asMRF exists. We should have Turkish The predecessor of MRF was a secret organization, and Dogan was the head of it question solveis attemptto the alate national process) doing (vozroditel’niy WhatZhivkov was population birthVery high among almostrates they Turks.Now the 10%of constitute entirethe Bosnian model In a while we might as well haveThey behave asif theTurkish they are representing in national interests Bulgaria them wanting autonomy.But they got out of controlThen we might as well them in controlling useservices secret the an ethnic Turkish party will help concentrating Turkish whichdiscontent, helpwould the MRF is built on the ideas of Bulgarian secret services. At the time they thought that creating that thought they time the At services. secret Bulgarian of ideas the on built is Æ trumped-up story/fabrication. Thebiography of ismysteriousBorisov and shadowy. Æ 103 only the true supporters will only supporters for true the them, vote Æ challenges CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x Russia is not interested in interested Russia isnot now Bulgaria Consolidation on another level will take place the real ones) The main problem party of poor the new politicalTwo in + parties emerge will theleft coming rightand elections: + Attack the All parties have the same program innovations no were there Videnov from starting and rich is not Bulgaria Role in the EU Æ normal Bulgariansare (those that not in understandpower) nothing Æ illegal privatization (sold everything out with pricesmuch illegal lower outthan privatization (sold everything Æ Kostov’s creation (neither left, nor right, but liberal) 104 CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x It is more flexible and tolerant than Attack, but with some nationalistic ideas butwith Attack, It isflexible than and nationalistic some more tolerant Tchetin Kazak The newly The newly created We will see in what upcomingelections the will European happen Attack to support is mainly from derived unemployedthe youngsters with no ambitions haveand supportinthey are natural they protesters, muchmore provinces, their incities the influenced they are easily because youngsters of a lot before, Socialists for the were voting that those parties, mainstream political of performance by the disappointed those personnel), military former example, formerly (for the losers, privileged the yearsreforms, of seventeen inthe from are disappointed derives society its inthe that support people Attack those list is son-in-law) elections forSiderov’s party European the person on first – the entourages close their as relatives have their Le Pen andSiderov both Coalition Attack reminds of Le Pen’s party in France (one more similarity lies in thefact that After a while, there was a split within the coalition and inside the parties as well Assembly in National MPs the 20 them having percentage of votes ina leadingimportant to elections got the rather Attack set an example for all of Balkans isto which society, years –atolerant builtin seventeen we destroy what to they try because in and plays areproblems society, becausethere the feelings of It people with lowest the isAttack nationalistic, a andpopulistxenophobic, party Unfortunately, 2005ultra-nationalist after Gerb plays with some type of populist ideas Main Points MP, Secretary of the Parliametary Group of the MRF Attack 105 Observer member Observer of European the Parliament came into the political scene in Bulgaria scene political the into came CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x nationalistic discourse and confine them andconfine discourse nationalistic ultra- with parties of maneuver of limit areas the must actors, political mainstream We, the MRF, particularly, will everythingfordo its survival actors mainstream political the of of of responsibility sense because the The hereis different Euroscepticism countries European Eastern ten very theother low. Unlike Bulgaria position of was economic Thestarting beginners. arestill Bulgaria andRomania Euroscepticism is a trend in Central and Eastern Europe years firstthe will benefit on the long run. First years will be difficult. Tangiblesociety benefits Bulgarian willthe notbut be feltfast, be in to going not is change that people the to explain to have We membership of benefits months. Anditis the responsibility of governingthe coalition maketo people feel the Bulgarians are not yet not are Bulgarians part of his popularity in Sofia, buthe is less inknown provinces, and thus ismore popular Since Borisov is the major of Sofia, he cumulated some shortcomings and therefore lost a in Gerbtomakeaboom expects European elections the No one wewill elections see if this success will into get transformed list party the Since Gerb’s is success largely based onBoykoBorisov’s personality, during the European elections forin will Gerb upcoming European first test The first come the will uneducated the with Attack remain Gerb The expectation is that more intelligent and pragmatic supporters of Attack will switch to model ofethnictolerance Eurosceptic. is being threatened now, but it is sufficiently strong to survive But this trend will grow in the society within several 106 CEU eTD Collection x not viable Concrete steps to be taken to steps Concrete Æ we must demonstrate for thepeopleradical solutionsare wemustdemonstrate that 107 CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x support to initiate reforms as early as early 80s as the reforms initiate to support enough have not did reformers wing right former the started, process transition the When by workplace state the placedin state, the socialized through forwere they instance,consumption; terms of, changing would the nomenklatura be enough,butthey hoped toget a privileged in position There generations aretwo lost who toomuch transition the during process andcannot donot doanything; their is radicalism expressedonly elections during Who votes radical? votes Who political formations,it is not as high wasas expected (results of a large population study) radical for voting and ‘losers’ of feelings the between correlation ishigh a there Although right) or (left parties political mainstream traditional for vote vote, that those atall, secondly, and vote not losers do most firstly, because generalization, parties forvote would radical political formations. However, this wouldbe toobig of a It would be easy concludeto that the ‘losers of transition’ and those with low trust in political and selfish corrupt responsible, non- as perceived are parties These parties. in political trust of level low very a is there time, same the At high. very is self-depreciation of level the that demonstrate poll of results The transition in something lost public According %of to opinion Bulgariapoll approximately citizens of 50 have they said but alot of them did large ofa Notall statement. ‘losers for of had radicaltransition’ voted political formations, The supporters of Vasil Garnizov radicalism Æ older than the median age; they declare to be angry and radical,but in Bulgaria are the ‘losers of transition’. However, this is too this However, transition’. of ‘losers arethe inBulgaria Main Points 108 Department of Anthropology New Bulgarian New Bulgarian University Associate Professor Associate Æ they thought they CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x Attack. They right-wing They at the are angry Attack. The startedAttack After 2005, itselforganizing aparty as with apparatus a strong haveIt is they results better surprising not did by people by andnot offeredthe mainstream parties the –included package isvery messages market-oriented thatwerewidely only those supported Suddenly,inall issues were apackage puttogether these people. forthe and offered This This sounds logical, since no political party touched upon sensitive issues in the society. majority the of eligiblethe would voters have voted to them The results of a population study reveal that had Attack been known to the people in advance, space has theconsensus previously supported public the because through message the get not could consequently, unknown, were They elections in general have hadamajority they would elections, before the hadmorebit time If Attack a CoalitionAttack At end the political of 2005, one broke party consensusthe country,market economy, party pluralism, economic restructuring, and privatization constitution; do not question the pro-EU and pro-NATO orientation (even for BSP) of te idea attack constitutional andthe the of 1985-89, thenot question order Roma; of do parties built mainstreamlarge political among consensus of Duringwas transition, a the process The most frustrated citizens do not vote at all Populist elements were present in Bulgarian politics during the whole process of transition Bulgarian politics is very personal and the perception of politics is very personalizing political right Æ do not touch upon the question of minorities, the question of change of identity in identity of change of question the minorities, of question the upon touch not do became the speaker of all thespeakerof became taboos is very fragmented. Therefore, many right-oriented voters have voters supported many right-oriented Therefore, fragmented. isvery 109 CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x x x x x x x x The potential voters of parties political It was a protest against transition, an expression of loss, and a vote against the right-wing There is There leaderthe between party a the and stable combination Attack is his: the TV show, the party and the message transition) during consensus with taken decisions andall anti-Roma, andanti-Turkish, became his scope broadened then anti-American, turned from Jews, Allhis then messages.Started keymessages areanti-allied show called‘Attack’. because of Sidorov (henoresults but with etc, media, police, by government, the was counterattacked Attack is a showman and the generalhe is charismatic. If he is notin Attack, Attack as a party will fail completelymessage was ‘attack’.for SidorovSupport in beginning wasvery the heterogeneous; likedpeople whathe said and He had a TV well is not experienced apparatus political Borisov’s has in already Attack elections played some while experienced, Gerb isstillnot Support for Borisov is very personal and now he tries to give it tohis party Borisov with his biography demonstrated to people that he is like one of them as is well truthful Sidorov that believe Thesame people experience. capacity and administrative his in believe People capable. and islikeable He it. of all never but truth His function as a major of Sofia let people believe that he has the capacity to rule. He says the are notradical and experts that people attract He tried to isdifferent. Borisov be in parliament but not in power. They cannot imagine him as a ruler Some think is Sidorov mad, because he speaks theunspeakable. So,people thinkhe should asbeingregarded sincereandtruthful Borisov is typea different of populist.He is angry isand perceived as Heissuch. also Gerb and the real voters of Attack are are overlapping ofAttack voters real andthe 110 CEU eTD Collection x x x x x x x itbecause hehad noexperienced staff, he and didnot want todisturb public opinion in no Turks ethnic anexpert with government Dogan whocreated was mandate thirdto given coalitions, had then his withown government (1993-1995) no ethnically ministerTurkish Initially, during talks the Roundtable playing Dogan independent. Then was he started with disbalance in ademographic is Kidgjeli of region The were sent by abroad returned. Turks that Dogan (so abroad forlaterthey MRF). andwork can back come Unlike Bulgarians, ethnic ethnic study youngsters to get the ethnicallyTurkish to from US EU,the Turkey, for the support so heasked in human capital, invest needto failed. the Herealized hisprojects all beginning Dogan’sinlack initial humanprofessional problem was resources.Therefore,the of BSP) negotiateMRF succeeded toastatus of a thirdduring Roundtabletalks party the (through during Roundtable the negotiations hewassitting not with righteither the or theleft of space. But right-wingthe part wasperceived transition as Dogan In thebeginningof elections lastpresidential the during addressed remains issue,was which preserved. It open an was quo status The approved. nor neither rejected appealwas cansay Consequently,the one decision majority,requires a for,votes 5against,1 abstention, 5 and1judge wasabsent). MRF as an worked apparatus the socialists/communists).him because of sentimental reasons (they him remember a as deprived childin exile during Only during the elections on king’s charisma personal noandpolitical has Alot strong apparatus. forof people voted he created some organizationBSP, MRF, have and Kostov, party Attack good on a localapparatuses level.is NMSS based that has was challenged constitutionally (votes in the constitutional court were even and a and even were court constitutional the in (votes constitutionally challenged was 111 Æ CEU eTD Collection x x x The current government is created with the mandate from MRF hasdeteriorated SimeonandDogan between therelationship Later, year firstthe did not have political experience, but Heknew hisknow base.they not asapolitical organizations Simeon power did supporters. MRF did, which served as a teacher for him.wantedknow Bulgaria. to workwith use monarchical But he NMSS Herefused other not did to during The king arrived on April 6, gave a speech and started receiving speech andstarted onApril arrived lists of CVsand people who 6, gave a 112 CEU eTD Collection Slovenia Slovakia Serbia Romania Poland Macedonia Lithuania Latvia Hungary Estonia Czech Republic Croatia Bulgaria Bosnia and Herzegovina Albania Table 2: The nature of electoral systems – Central and Eastern Europe UK Switzerland PR Sweden Spain San PR Marino Portugal Norway PR Netherlands Monaco Malta Luxembourg PR Liechtenstein Italy Ireland Iceland Greece Germany France Finland Denmark Cyprus Belgium Austria Andorra Table 1: The nature of electoralsystems – Western Europe Systems Electoral Appendix 2 Single-member plurality Single-member PR PR PR PR mixed PR PR PR PR PR mixed majority absolute Single-member PR PR PR PR PR Mixed PR PR PR PR PR PR PR Mixed Mixed PR Mixed PR PR PR PR Mixed 113 CEU eTD Collection election election since independence first country’s the this Was passed from 1989 (b) How many years have passed from 1989 (a) How many years have procedures voting Are special there easy registration Is voter non-voters If so, are there penalties for voting compulsory lawIs therea on time off without loss of pay If itisis a there weekday, weekday) (weekend or Election Day IndependentVariables Table 4: Results of the quantitative model constructed for the chapter onVoter Turnouts inNational Elections Voter Turnouts Appendix 3 2.469 0.460 -0.153 0.000 -1.376 5.365 18.866 0.000 0.993 -0.034 4.950 7.271 5.702 B scores Significance scores Significance 0.552 0.010 0.209 0.009 0.069 114 CEU eTD Collection fundamental re-casting of the terms on which their country is an EU member that is that member EU an is country their which on terms the of re-casting fundamental a for calls and (communist/conservative/socialist/populist), position ideological the depending on capitalist/socialist/neo-liberal/bureaucratic, itis too stresses that language that in is framed EU the to opposition the ask whether is to method second The EU party… foris“The assessingfirst if proposed it ifis is a party ‘hard’ Eurosceptic. issue a single anti- methods for determiningcategories. in party’smethods the either two the of areposition Two WorkingNetwork 6, 2002, PaperNo page 7).and Taggart Szczerbiakmap further outthe Member and SEIWorking CandidateStates”, 51, Opposing PaperNo Research Europe Paul Aleks (Taggart, trajectory” Party “The Szczerbiak, of and in Politics Euroscepticism EU EU’s the with odds at iscurrently interest’ ‘national that is asense wherethere or EU, to the a (or one number)to theexpression on concerns of opposition lead of qualified policy areas but EUmembership where European or isa principledintegration there to not objection iswhere conceived…Euroscepticism is asitSoft integration currently project of European membership, orwhose policies towards the EU are tantamount being to opposed to the whole from should intheir withdraw be whothink countries and can seen that parties therefore integration EUandEuropean tothe opposition isis there aprincipled where Euroscepticism 9).They April, Manchester: 2001, define thetwo of types follows:Euroscepticism “Hard as 10-12 presented Association, of Political the PaperattheAnnual Studies Meeting Europe.” States Candidate Euroscepticism inof and Eastern PositionsCentral andEurope: the “Parties, Aleks Paul, Szczerbiak. and (Taggart, Euroscepticism” ‘soft’ into and ‘hard’ “findit breakuseful downthe in manifest… to Euroscepticism Eastern and Central Europe politicalregion. andsystems within elites theConsequently, CEE party political authors the Szczerbiak and by Taggart model Euroscepticism Party-based Appendix 4 Taggart and Szczerbiak identified relatively high levels of Euroscepticism among the Euroscepticism highlevelsof relatively identified and Taggart Szczerbiak 115 CEU eTD Collection development. way of current inits integration European process of the about toscepticism related is It mainly (Ibid.). repertoire” of their political issueaspart European the over contestation of rhetoric the in it that uses “whereaparty propose exists cases authors the Euroscepticism, ‘soft’ Asfor (Ibid.). project” European the of trajectory present the with incompatible 116 CEU eTD Collection state (e.g. federalists), but also those who see European integration exclusively in economic integration exclusively whosee European those federalists), butalso (e.g. state integration a includewhoof thus as projectsee creating those anew supranational European integration isregardless of European definedhow andin realized can detail. The Europhiles ideas such in believe they However, element). economic (the economy market liberal integrated an and element) political (the sovereignty pooled of basis the on cooperation institutionalized EU: the underlying integration European of ideas key in the “believe Europhiles that state They EU-pessimists. and EU-optimists between distinguishes one The first dimension a betweengives distinction Europhobes and Europhiles, while second the ‘support for theideas integration’, of 2.‘supportforEuropean theEuropean Union’ (Ibid.). incan be two The dimensions integration are: 1. European about studied” (Ibid.). particular, two dimensionsfor throughwhich European integration insupport general, andskepticism “thesearethe that Kopecky and Muddepropose itis (Ibid.). developing” isEU asit as and for thegeneralis, is integration; “support ‘specific’ support that the of the practice European integrationunderlieEuropean EU”(Kopeckyand the Mudde,2002,page300)and that integration.European as for the define support “support the They general ‘diffuse’ Kopecky anddifferentiate Mudde, 300)to between ‘diffuse’for further supportand ‘specific’ from 124, Hall, Prentice NJ: Cliffs, Englewood Analysis”, Political for Framework “A David, (Easton, regimes” political for support of forms different between distinction seminal page 300).Kopecky “onpage 297-326, they that and Muddestated David Easton’s drew European Integration in East Central Europe”, Central in East European Integration on (Kopecky,“Two andCas Party Positions Petr Mudde,Euroscepticism: of Sides ‘Europe’” “inrelation on (party)Szczerbiak), whichdefinesEuroscepticism other to positions and of an that Taggart (to alternative definition Mudde have proposed Kopecky and Mudde and by Kopecky model Euroscepticism Party-based Appendix 5 117 European Union Politics , volume 3 (3), 2002, volume 3(3), , ideas of CEU eTD Collection Kopecky Kopecky and Muddeusedin article: their illustrate figure the typology the present I will andMudde,2002,page302). To (Kopecky Kopecky and categoriesideal-type Muddeinto proposing “four of party positions on Europe” led concepts of sets two the of analysis The EU. the in membership country’s their to object all EU-pessimists not that delineate to important is it also, Here EU-pessimists. considered are EU-optimists viewof the contest who those Consequently, EU-optimists. of category particular EU policy does not exclude a specific political party or a movementfrom the page 302).Mudde, 2002, However,isit mentioning a disapproving worth that outlook on a and (Kopecky EU” the of development of direction the about areoptimistic they because developing, because either they are satisfied with way itthe has been setupand is running, or European of Integration”.Question the and Identities Party “Hungarian Batory’s Agnes from is taken optimists She states that “EU-optimists defining second the setof definition concepts vs.EU-pessimists. –EU-optimists EU- of The believe move subsequently to authors The on Mudde, 2002,page301). integration” and (Kopecky in the EU as it is and more hereis support matters or European one ideas failto they of what underlying that the as it is will often express some support for the idea of cooperation among European states. However, may Foreven a minority appear only in nationalists certainly contemporary Europe. position, diversity incompatibility) ‘thus’ (and On European existing among states. face the it, this of the in faceof folly isthe a integration idea European of the believe they because simply or isolationalists, or socialists, nationalists, be may they because position this They take EU. integration support(and not often generalideasof the European theoppose) underlying even opponents of view,accordingthis totheauthors, can be They asEurophobes. classified “do termsfree creation of (e.g.the and zone)”(Kopecky The Mudde,a trade 2002,page301). 118 CEU eTD Collection pages 315-318). public of support asfollows, were model. inof The them the proposed 2002 andplotted theycameconclusions forward with They have looked at political parties in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic as Figure: Typology of positionsparty onEurope(Kopecky and Mudde,2002,page303). x x x political parties that are as classified that political parties canbelabeled as many parties very few political are very few political parties EU Support for Supportfor European integration Eurosceptic EU-pessimist EU-optimist parties ranges parties from 28 % 3% (Kopeckyto and Mudde,2002, Europragmatic Euroenthusiasts, Eurosceptics Euroenthusiasts Europragmatists Eurorejects Europhile 119 , are politically irrelevant, Europhobe Eurorejects 1 CEU eTD Collection 19, 2007 Source: Central Elections Committee,< National results from Votes abroad Yambol Shoumen Khaskovo Tirgovishte Stara Zagora Sofia province Sofia 25MIR Sofia 24MIR Sofia 23MIR Smolyan Sleeven Silistra Rousse Razgrad Plovdiv district Plovdiv city Pleven Pernik Pazardjik Montana Lovetch Kyustendil Kirdjali Dobreech Gabrovo Vratca Vidin Veliko Tirnovo Varna Burgas Blagoevgrad Actual vote Electoral District concentrated are Turks ethnic where ‘subprovinces’ four ofthe one in located are bolded are that Districts ‘-‘ sign indicates that the party passdid not the 4 % threshold toget amandate percentages in districts by electoral Ataka ofMRFand share Vote Appendix 6 12.81 2.88 27.48 16.55 37.84 5.58 4.25 0.56 2.35 0.44 15.25 9.99 36.12 11.76 45.97 9.81 7.18 7.25 0.42 11.91 4.12 7.37 1.50 67.32 14.05 6.61 1.29 13.39 4.56 8.66 15.06 18.51 MRF (%) share of 53.99 http://www.2005izbori.org/results/index.html 14.07 - 33.96 19.94 55.95 - - - - - 24.37 14.20 54.19 13.55 69.52 11.09 7.70 8.24 - 14.86 - - - 100 17.85 - - - - 9.79 16.86 21.50 MRF (%) taken by Mandates 59.09 120 8.14 7.17 10.42 7.85 7.80 9.58 10.46 10.23 8.87 8.31 4.14 9.43 5.58 12.28 6.48 7.88 7.88 10.03 6.43 7.36 5.97 8.44 4.69 2.36 7.75 9.61 7.25 4.35 11.37 8.20 10.90 4.46 Ataka (%) share of Actual vote 2.08 8.93 - 12.88 9.46 - 11.57 15.95 11.27 9.83 8.93 - 13.41 - 14.15 - 8.91 8.45 11.40 - 9.18 - - - - 9.84 - - - 13.54 9.27 12.21 - Mandates Ataka (%) taken by - >, last accessed on May on accessed last >, CEU eTD Collection ______, ______, in Bulgaria”, ‘Postcommunist’ in Participation Political and “Democratization D., John Bell, for Paper Europe”, inPostsocialist Mobilization Anti-EU and “Nationalism Timm, Beichelt, SEI Integration”, European of Question and the Identities Party “Hungarian Agnes, Batory, in –“The Marek,Bulgaria Bankowicz, LimitedRevolution”, Apud Ruth, Lapidoth, Apud Beck,JanMansvelt, ______, Systems”, Rudy,National Andeweg, Reshaping “The Party of Andreescu, Gabriel, Anderson, (eds.), Kjell Svein and Eliassen Amy, Douglas J., 9. 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