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Russophilia and Russophobia in Bulgaria: Discourses Bridging Past and Present

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Russophilia and Russophobia in Bulgaria: Discourses Bridging Past and Present RUSSOPHILIA AND RUSSOPHOBIA IN BULGARIA: DISCOURSES BRIDGING PAST AND PRESENT By Iris Belensky Submitted to Central European University Department of International Relations In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in International Relations Supervisor: Professor Michael Merlingen CEU eTD Collection Word Count: 17, 231 Budapest, Hungary 2018 Abstract This thesis seeks to bring to light the influence of Bulgaria’s identity construction, with reference to its historical relationship with Russia, upon the debate and negotiation of current foreign and domestic policy issues. In order to do this, the thesis first delineates the basic discourses of Russophilia and Russophobia that developed over the course of Bulgaria’s historical relations with Russia and the ways in which they construct the Bulgarian Self with relation to its Russian Other. The thesis then examines the arguments made in two contemporary policy debates – the debate over the mandatory inclusion of the communist period in Bulgarian school curricula, and the debate over the ratification of the Istanbul Convention - assessing them for the structuring influences of the motifs and logics of the basic discourses of Russophilia and Russophobia. The thesis finds that the basic discourses of Russophilia and Russophobia continue to act as conditions of possibility and structuring agents within contemporary policy debates. However, the development of these debates has had an effect on the discourses as well – emphasizing incompatibility between Russophilia and Russophobia, and thus polarizing the discourses. CEU eTD Collection ii Acknowledgements The creation of this thesis represented a process of personal expansion driven by forces much greater than I. For my now much wider horizons I must first thank my supervisor Professor Merlingen, who found productive observations in my most unstructured ramblings, and guided me to their full expression. I would like to thank Professor Maria Pirgova, Professor Stefan Detchev, Professor Ivo Hristov, and Professor Evelina Kelbecheva for taking the time to share their knowledge and providing me with continuous inspiration. A special thank you is owed to Professor Miriana Yanakieva for all of her advice and expertise, which saved this project multiple times from beginning to end. Thank you to Robin Bellers who knew my thesis better from one look, than I could know it after months of writing. Thank you to my mother, who sowed the seeds for this project many years ago and nurtured them to their full bloom. CEU eTD Collection iii Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Review of Literature and Methodology ...................................................................................... 8 I. Literature Review .................................................................................................................................. 8 II. Analytical Framework and Methodology ........................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: A Historical Introduction to the Discourses of Russophilia and Russophobia.......................... 18 I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 18 II. The Emergence of Russophilia and Russophobia .............................................................................. 19 The Romantic Origins of Russophilia ................................................................................................. 19 The Emergence of Russophobia as Opposition ................................................................................... 22 III. Continuity and Transformation from 1878 to the Present ................................................................ 26 IV. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 30 Chapter 3: Russophilia, Russophobia, and Bulgarian Educational Reform ................................................ 31 I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 31 II. The Process and Results of Bulgaria’s Education Reform ................................................................. 32 III. Advocating for Education Reform and Russophobia........................................................................ 34 IV. Opposing Education Reform and Russophilia .................................................................................. 39 V. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 44 Chapter 4: Russophilia, Russophobia, and the Istanbul Convention .......................................................... 45 I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 45 II. The Istanbul Convention and its Reception in Bulgaria ..................................................................... 46 III. Opposition to the Convention and Russophilia ................................................................................. 47 IV. Defense of the Convention and Russophobia ................................................................................... 52 V. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 56 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 56 CEU eTD Collection iv Introduction Russia’s potential to influence the domestic politics of other states is an issue of increasing interest and concern for states and intergovernmental unions and alliances, particularly in the West. Whether Russian influence is conceived of in terms of military force, through direct intervention or cyber warfare, or in terms of political influence, through the funding of right-wing parties and the popularizing of illiberal discourses, the question has become a polarizing one both on the international level, and within numerous domestic contexts.1 The concern over Russia’s role on the international stage became a pronounced characteristic in North American and European politics in light of the annexation of Crimea and has since been reflected both in these regions’ foreign and economic policies, and in their media.2 The question of Russian influence is particularly prevalent and persistent within Central and Eastern Europe both because these regions represent the spaces of contact between the EU and Russia and because of these countries’ recent history with Russia in the context of the Soviet space. Due to the stated geographical importance of the region, many analyses take a geopolitical approach to determine the material leverage or capacity for coercion that Russia might have in these countries.3 Some of the focal points of these analyses include the widespread dependence on Russian energy sources, the levels of Russian diaspora, and the extent to which Russian 1 “The Russian Connection: The spread of pro-Russia policies on the European far right,” Political Capital Institute, CEU eTD Collection March 14, 2014. 2 Dmitri Trenin, “A Practical Approach to EU-Russian Relations,” Carnegie Moscow Center, Janurary 2014, accessed December 01, 2016. http://carnegieendowment.org/files/Article_EU-Russ_Trenin_Eng2014.pdf 3 Heather A. Conley, James Mina, Ruslan Stefanov, and Martin Vladimirov,The Kremlin Playbook: Understanding Russian Influence in Central and Eastern Europe.Center for Strategic and International Studies. New York: Rowman& Littlefield, 2016; Ivan Krastev, “The Cold War isn’t back. So don’t think like it is,” The New York Times, December 21, 2016. Accessed April 11, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/opinion/the-cold-war- isnt-back-so-dont-think-like-it-is.html 1 finances have penetrated the political structures of Central/Eastern European states. While these factors are certainly worthy of attention, the meanings that they hold for the corresponding states and their populations are then mediated by the discourses that have developed about the states’ relationship with Russia over the course of history. Consequently these discourses have established a structural longevity of their own which continues to infuse the geopolitical realities of different Central/Eastern European states with a variety of meanings. The impact of these longstanding discourses upon Central/Eastern European states is demonstrated in the striking diversity that can be observed amongst contemporary discourses on Russia both between and within said states. This diversity can be attributed to the plurality of identities that emerged within the region and the variable ways in which these identities are renegotiated over time while being caught between two historically constituted axes of power – Western Europe and Russia.4 As these discourses on Russia are deeply entwined with the way that some Central/Eastern European states conceptualize their identity and position on the international stage, the tendency of geopolitical analyses to overlook them
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