Bulgaria’s pro-Russian far-right party wants to form government

5 months ago 20

Bulgaria’s largest pro-Russian far-right party, Vazrazhdane (Revival), is ready to form a government if other parties in parliament accept its conditions for a referendum on leaving NATO and rejecting the euro.

Party leader Kostadin Kostadinov, banned from entering Ukraine as a suspected Russian spy, said that a government could be formed by all parties in the National Assembly except the two leading parties – GERB (EPP) and the Turkish minority Movement for Rights and Freedoms DPS (Renew Europe).

“Yes, we have differences (with the others), but, thank God, they are on an ideological basis, in most cases a foreign policy basis, which means that when ideas, principles and ideals are involved. In this case, it is easy to find an arbiter among the Bulgarian people. We could hold referendums on the euro or NATO,” Kostadinov said.

Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court has already rejected the eurozone referendum as unconstitutional. Vazrazhdane wants to renegotiate Bulgaria’s EU membership, which is impossible, and it is still unclear what other changes the party demands.

Kostadinov argues that if the Bulgarian parliament does not elect a government with GERB’s first mandate, there are two options – “either a cabinet with Vazrazhdane’s mandate or new elections”.

He described GERB and the DPS as “Siamese twin parties” that posed a major problem for the functioning of the country’s political system. Kostadinov admitted that “the country is in an unprecedented political crisis” because of the record low turnout of 34% in the last parliamentary elections.

“That is why we are reaching out to everyone else. … In this situation, either we try to show the Bulgarian citizens, who clearly, it seems, do not want GERB and DPS to rule the country, or the agony will continue to destroy the country. There is no middle way,” Kostadinov added.

In elections earlier this month, Vazrazhdane came fourth behind GERB, DPS and the pro-European coalition PP-DB. Support for the party fell sharply, and a new radical populist party, Greatness, entered parliament and began siphoning off Kostadinov’s voters.

In the European Parliament, Vazrazhdane is a member of Identity and Democracy but intends to leave it after it first floated the idea of forming a sovereignist group with Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Meanwhile, Der Spiegel reported that AfD has gathered enough MEPs to form a new group in the European Parliament. Vazrazhdane, with its three MEPs, will also be part of the group.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)