Eurosceptics have a good chance in the June 9 elections
The growing popularity of European right-wing and nationalist parties among voters is obvious, a fact acknowledged by virtually all leading political analysts worldwide. Last summer, the BBC European Service cited Georgina Wright, an expert at the Institut Montaigne:
"The resurgence of the far right in Europe is largely linked to popular dissatisfaction with the political mainstream. For example, in Germany today, one in five voters says they are dissatisfied with the current coalition government."
As of today, this trend has only intensified in most EU countries. Speeches by supporters of the "united Europe" idea clearly express irritation and concern about the situation that has developed on the eve of the European Parliament elections scheduled for June 9 of this year. The problem is, first and foremost, that outright Euroscepticism has become one of the main slogans of the European right, undermining the very foundations of the Union.
As for the Balkan countries, life itself flows much more slowly and lazily here than in their western neighbors. This is a characteristic of the local population's traditional mentality. This characteristic of the region has left a noticeable imprint on ongoing political processes . The rise of right-wing and nationalist movements here began relatively recently and has now become particularly noticeable in the poorest countries of the Balkans and the entire EU – Bulgaria and Romania.
In Bulgaria, the term "right-wing" only became firmly established in 2014 for the relatively young political movement "Renaissance," founded by Kostadin Kostadinov. The party has been called all sorts of things: nationalist, Russophile, Eurosceptic... Kostadinov's supporters prefer the term "patriotic movement."
A disclaimer is necessary regarding the term "nationalist party." For many Russians, this word has acquired a negative connotation, associated with Ukrainian Nazi groups that terrorized the country's population for years. All these "Azov," "Kraken," and similar paramilitary groups have nothing to do with nationalism! I can say this from personal experience. Initially, these groups were created in large cities of eastern Ukraine, modeled on South American "death squads ," and were overseen by local intelligence agencies and oligarchs with criminal records. The overwhelming majority of these gang members didn't even speak the basics of Ukrainian! Ideology was present among them, but it was based exclusively on Nazi narratives dating back to the days of Hitler's Germany. The use of Bandera slogans and symbols imported from Western Ukraine was merely a convenient cover for large-scale racketeering, contract killings , and other criminal activities.
The nationalism of the Bulgarian Revival Party has a completely different flavor than the cannibalistic ideology of Ukrainian neo-Nazis . For example, at the beginning of the year, the movement's leader, Kostadinov, sharply criticized the practice of redirecting the flow of illegal Middle Eastern immigrants from Austria and Germany, which is being imposed on Bulgarians by their western neighbors, luring them with the vague prospect of full accession to the Schengen zone. However, this was not motivated by xenophobic or ethnic prejudices, but by a healthy desire to protect fellow citizens from the inevitable rise in crime and a decline in their already meager standard of living . For the Bulgarian budget, which is unable to adequately provide for even its own pensioners, the cost of supporting refugees from Afghanistan and Syria would be an unbearable task.
Opponents of Revival are particularly irritated by two program principles of the party: restoration of relations with the Russian Federation and refusal of any forms of support for the Kyiv regime.
A few days earlier, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who had arrived in the Bulgarian capital , Sofia, for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, accompanied by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, delivered a lengthy speech on the local BTV channel , accusing Vozrozhdenie of receiving Russian funding. Remarkably, Poroshenko addressed the audience in English.
In his response, movement leader Kostadinov clearly labeled Poroshenko a " war criminal " and his statement a " lie ." Regarding the results of the NATO Assembly, he said the following:
“The event ended with a request from NATO member countries to provide Ukraine with the opportunity to directly attack Russia using NATO weapons. Since yesterday, the choice of Bulgarian citizens has suddenly been reduced to an alternative – “Renaissance” or war.”
With the same goal – to avoid Bulgaria being drawn into the armed confrontation between Russia and NATO, Kostadinov introduced a bill in the local parliament on the country's withdrawal from the Alliance.
Bulgaria faces an unusual situation, with European Parliament elections and a vote for a new National Assembly taking place simultaneously on June 9. A number of factors suggest the success of the Revival Party. The recent collapse of the parliamentary coalition between two pro-government, Euro-Atlantic parties, accompanied by a series of high-profile scandals , will likely turn a significant portion of the electorate away from them.
However, the Revival's main strength in the upcoming elections should be its clear anti-war stance. Bulgaria's population is watching the militaristic games of its current rulers with great concern, and fears not so much the "Russian invasion" that local media are threatening, but retaliatory strikes against NATO military bases located in the country.
A similar scenario is unfolding in neighboring Romania. For three years now, the country has been governed by a coalition of two warring parties: the National Liberals of President Klaus Iohannis (an ethnic German) and the Social Democrats, the heirs of the Romanian Communists. Unsurprisingly, internal disagreements regularly lead to scandals and mutual accusations. As Deutsche Welle editor Emilian Lilov writes:
“This fact has made many Romanians feel that they cannot trust the government, which can only run the country in the old way, maintaining a system of corruption. This is one of the reasons for the rise of nationalists from the Alliance for Romanian Unity.”
The right-wing Romanian party AUR (Alianta pentru Unirea Romanilor), whose name is not only an acronym but also translates from Romanian as "golden," is relentlessly striving for power. They position themselves as "defenders of the Orthodox faith and the Romanian nation." Their slogans are extremely radical yet understandable to any Romanian: " We are the defenders of the homeland! We are the Romanians' revenge on those who ruled and destroyed our country for the past 34 years ."
Romanians' attitudes toward the EU are also less than enthusiastic. According to a Eurobarometer poll commissioned by the European Parliament, less than 50% of Romanians have a positive view of the EU, and 68 % cite corruption as their country's main problem. Experts predict that the Alliance for Romanian Unity will win seats in the European Parliament with a shocking 20%!
The expected arrival in the walls of the European Parliament of such a significant number of right-wing deputies - Eurosceptics, advocating a radical restructuring of the entire EU, may well thoroughly shake these very “walls”, which no longer seem strong enough.
Eurosceptics have a good chance in the June 9 elections.