Left wing, right wing, everything: Xenophobia, neo-totalitarianism, and populist politics in Bulgaria

Problems of Post-Communism

Volumn 55, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 26-39

  Ghodsee, Kristen ^a  

^a BOWDOIN COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 45549097874     PISSN: 10758216     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2753/PPC1075-8216550303     Document Type: Review

References (74)

1. "Ataka: Zatvor za vinovite, prodali BTK" (Ataka: Jail for the Guilty Ones Who Sold BTK), Vestnik Ataka (July 5, 2007): 1-3.
2. "Deputati, koito skriha aferata s telekoma" (Deputies Who Hid the Affair with the Telecom), Vestnik Ataka (July 6, 2007): 2.
3. Brown is the color traditionally associated with the Nazis in Bulgaria. "The Brown International" was the title of a cover article in Tema, the national news magazine. The cover featured images of Le Pen, Alessandra Mussolini, and Volen Siderov among others. See Tema (January 27-February 4, 2006), www.temanews.com/index.php?page=release&relID=290, accessed July 27, 2007.
4. Steven Chiodini, "Bulgaria: An East European Revolution in Suspension," Harvard International Review 13, no. 1 (winter 1991): 47-49; Milcho Lalkov, A History of Bulgaria: An Outline (Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, 1998).
5. Rumyana Kolarova, "Bulgaria: Could We Regain What We Have Already Lost?" Social Research 63, no. 2 (summer 1996): 543-58.
6. Ivan Palchev, Ahmed Dogan and the Bulgarian Ethnic Model (Sofia: National Museum of Bulgarian Books and Poligraphy, 2002).
7. For a detailed discussion of the corruption of privatization in the tourism sector, see Kristen Ghodsee, The Red Riviera: Gender, Tourism and Postsocialism on the Black Sea (Durham: Duke University Press, 2005).
8. Erik Jones, "Populism in Europe," SAIS Review 27, no. 1 (winter/ spring 2007): 37-47.
9. R.J. Crampton, A Concise History of Bulgaria (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997); Lalkov, History of Bulgaria.
10. Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, promulgated in State Gazette 56/13, July 1991, amended in State Gazette 85/26, September 2003 (www. parliament.bg).
11. Crampton, Concise History of Bulgaria.
12. Paul Taggart, Populism (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 2000).
13. Peter Učeň, "Parties, Populism, and Anti-Establishment Politics in Eastern Europe," SAIS Review 27, no. 1 (winter/spring 2007): 40-62. I take issue with Učeň's definition of "centrist" populism, however, because of his normative implication that a political party can cease to be legitimate if it is anti-democratic, anti-capitalist, or anti-Western. In a truly open democratic society, anti-Western political parties are not necessarily populist if their anti-Western sentiment is part of a reasoned political platform and to the economic advantage of the country in question.
14. Kristen Ghodsee, "A Monarch and Prime Minister: Electing the Former King in Bulgaria," NewsNet: Newsletter of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies 42, no. 3 (May 2002).
15. An image of these posters is reproduced in a recent book on Volen Siderov. See Simeon Neichev, Vladimir Trifonov, and Ivan Aladzhov, Volen Siderov mezhdu lazhata i istinata (Volen Siderov Between the Lie and the Truth)(Sofia: Bulgarski Pisatel, 2007), p. 57.
16. This image was reproduced in an on-line article for the magazine Obektiv. See Krassimir Kanev, "How Should We Think of Attack?" Obektiv, no. 123 (May/July 2005): 24-28 (www.bghelsinki.org/obektiv/123- 02.pdf).
17. Polia Alexandrova. "Keeping Attack at Bay," Transitions Online (June 27, 2005).
18. "Puch sreshtu Simeon" (Putsch Against Simeon), Novinar (June 27, 2005): 1-2.
19. For the official results, see the Web site of the Bulgarian Central Electoral Commission for the 2005 parliamentary elections (www.2005izbori. org/results/index.html).
20. Hristo Hristov, "Volen Siderov - Novata raka na haosa" (Volen Siderov, the New Hand of Chaos), Dnevnik (June 27, 2005): 6.
21. "A taka . . . 'Ataka' obarka planovete na polititzite" (Ataka Messes Up the Plans of the Politicians), Tema (June 27-July 3, 2005).
22. Nicholas Wood, "Ultranationalist Gains Complicate Bulgaria's EU Bid." International Herald Tribune (June 27, 2005) (www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/25/news/bulgaria.php).
23. See "Izborite: Rezultatite po regioni" (The Elections: The Results by Region), Dnevnik (June 27, 2005): 3 (www.2005izbori.org/ results/index .html).
24. "Bulgarian 'Attack' Leader Reiterates Opposition to NATO, U.S. Bases," Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (Sofia, June 28, 2005), via BBC Monitoring Europe - Political, BBC Worldwide Monitoring (June 28, 2005).
25. The exit polls were conducted by Alpha Research and presented by Boriana Dimitrova in June 2005. The exit poll data were available on-line at the Alpha Research Web site until the 2006 presidential elections and can now be obtained by contacting the organization (www.aresearch.org/index.html).
26. Yana Buhrer Tavanier, "Massive Attack," Transitions Online (July 11, 2005).
27. Albena Shkodorova, "Comment: Nationalism Retains Grip on Bulgaria's Youth," Institute for War and Peace Reporting (May 11, 2005), http://iwpr. net/?p=bcr&s=f&o=242245&apc_state=henfbcr242237/.
28. Antoniniya Todorova, "Zashto glasuvax za 'Ataka' " (Why I Voted for Ataka), Tema (June 27-July 3, 2005): 52.
29. Christina Dimitrova, "Opening Salvoes in Parliament," Sofia Echo (July 18, 2005), www.sofiaecho.com/article/opening-salvoes-in- parliament/ id_11796/catid_5/.
30. Neichev et al., Volen Siderov mezhdu lazhata i istinata.
31. Volen Siderov, Bumerangat na Zloto (The Boomerang of Evil) (Sofia: Obektiv, 2002).
32. For a critical review in English of Siderov's books, see Krassimir Kanev, "How Should We Think of 'Attack'?" Obektiv, no. 123 (April/July 2005), www. bghelsinki.org/obektiv/2005/123/123-02.pdf.
33. Volen Siderov, Bulgarophobia (Sofia: Bumerang BG, 2003).
34. "20 tochki na partiya Ataka" ("20 Principles of the Ataka Party"), available at www.ataka.bg/index.php?option=com_content&task= view&id= 13&Itemid=51/
35. Volen Siderov, Vlastta na Mamona (The Power of Mammon) (Sofia: Bumerang BG, 2004).
36. Kanev, "How Should We Think of 'Attack'?"
37. See the text at www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-// EP//NONSGML+WDECL+P6-DCL-2006-0019+0+DOC+PDF+V0// EN&language=EN/.
38. Author's interview with Gene Gibson, Democracy Officer at the Sofia mission of the U.S. Agency for International Development, July 24, 2005.
39. "Bulgarian Court Registers Nationalist Attack Party," BGNES Web site, Sofia (October 17, 2005) via BBC Monitoring Europe - Political, BBC Worldwide Monitoring (October 17, 2005).
40. "Bulgarian Nationalist Party Leader Publishes New Newspaper," BGNES Web site, Sofia (July 13, 2005) via BBC Monitoring Europe - Political, BBC Worldwide Monitoring (July 13, 2005).
41. Bulgaria's constitution prohibits political parties based on ethnic or religious affiliations.
42. "Bulgarian Nationalists Stage Walkout at National Assembly Session," Horizont Radio, Sofia (August 16, 2005) via Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, BBC Monitoring International Reports (August 16, 2005).
43. Krassimir Kanev, "Why We Are Suing Volen Siderov," Obektiv, no. 131 (April 2006), www.bghelsinki.org/obektiv/2006/131/ 131_all.pdf.
44. "Bulgarian Assembly Condemns Nationalist Party MPs' 'Brutal Act of Hooliganism,'" BTA, Sofia, (April 12, 2006) via BBC Monitoring Europe - Political, BBC Worldwide Monitoring (April 12, 2006).
45. "Bulgarian Nationalist Chief Ordered to Cease Discriminatory Remarks," Deutsche Presse-Agentur, July 21, 2006.
46. "Bulgarian Nationalist Leader Stripped of Immunity," Horizont Radio, Sofia, cited in Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, BBC Monitoring International Reports, July 4, 2006.
47. "Izbori za president i vitzprezident na republikata 2006" (Election for President and Vice-President of the Republic 2006). www.izbori2006.org/ results_2/.
48. "From the Editor: What to Make of Volen Siderov," Sofia Echo (October 30, 2006), www.sofiaecho.com/article/from-the-editor-what-to- make-of-volensiderov/id_18369/catid_27/.
49. Central Electoral Commission. "Za izbirane na chlenove na Evropeiskiya parlament ot Republika Bulgaria" (Choosing of Members of the European Parliament from the Republic of Bulgaria), www.izbori2007.eu/ results/index.html.
50. Ataka's European Parliament election commercials on SKAT TV were openly anti-Islamic, showing images of the British Parliament building, the Vatican, and the Eiffel Tower surrounded by flames and morphing into Turkish-style mosques. These anti-Muslim images were clearly in line with the National Front's anti-immigration and anti-Turkey-in-the-EU stance (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=KTFqei4oYnU/). Ataka also called for condemnation of the Turkish genocide against the Armenians (www.ataka.bg/index.php?option= com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=31/).
51. Nina Alexandrova "Avalanche of Protests Against Ataka in the European Parliament," Standort News (September 29, 2006), www.standartnews.com/ en/article.php?d=2006-09-29&article=1016/.
52. "Boiko specheli Sofia i Plovdiv, BSP - Varna" (Boiko Won Sofia and Plovdiv, BSP - Varna), Dneven Trud (October 29, 2007): 1.
53. Iordan Minchev, "V momenta Borisov e neobhodim na Balgarite" (At the Moment, Boiko Is Needed by Bulgarians), Tema (November 2-8, 2007): 17.
54. Lyuboslava Ruseva, "Bitkata za Kardzhali - Mezhdu golyamata glupost i golyamata belya" (The Battle for Kurdzhali - Between the Big Stupidity and the Big Screw-Up), Tema (July 9-15, 2007): 38-40.
55. The MRF won the mayoralty of Kardzhali city with 62 percent of the vote, and also soundly won the mayoralties of the six other administrative regions in Karzhali oblast (www.mi2007.org/results1/09/0916.html). In the end, there was little need for a coalition between Ataka and GERB because the municipal elections in the Kardzhali region were not free and fair, and MRF mayoral candidates won in every municipality.
56. U.S. Department of State, 2007 Human Rights Report for Bulgaria (www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100552.htm).
57. Some OMO-Ilinden supporters believe that the parts of Macedonia that are in Bulgaria and Greece should be united with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to create an independent Great Macedonia.
58. Krassimir Kanev, "In the Case of UMO-Iliden-Pirin, Bulgarian Politicians Followed Attack's Lead," Obektiv, no. 138 (January 2007), www. bghelsinki.org/obektiv/2007/138/138-01.pdf.
59. "Patriotite oglaviha protesta na shivachkite v grad Gotze Delchev" (The Patriots Headed the Protest of the Seamstresses in Gotze Delchev City), Vestnik Ataka (July 6, 2007): 4.
60. "Protests in Bulgaria to Scare Foreign Investors," Sofia Echo (July 19, 2007), www.sofiaecho.com/article/protests-in-bulgaria-to- scare-foreign-investors/id_23882/catid_64/.
61. Author's interview with Krassimir Kanev, chairman of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, Sofia, June 22, 2006.
62. One important exception is the work of Nadège Ragaru, a French scholar of Bulgaria. See Nadège Ragaru, "Un parti nationaliste radical en Bulgarie" (A Radical Nationalist Party in Bulgaria), Critique internationale, no. 30 (January 2006): 41-56.
63. "Zakon za izmenenie i dopalnenie za privatizatziya i sledprivatizatzionen kontrol" (Law for Amending and Revising the Law on Privatization and Post-Privatization Control), www.ataka.bg/index.php?option= com_content& task=view&id=85&Itemid=31/.
64. Ibid.
65. There is an extended discussion of this process in Siderov's Bulgarophobia.
66. Venelin Ganev, Preying on the State: The Transformation of Bulgaria after 1989 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2007), p. 45.
67. "Bulgarian Nationalist says 100,000 Signatures Against U.S. Bases Collected," BGNES, Sofia (March 22, 2006) via BBC Monitoring Europe - Political, BBC Worldwide Monitoring (March 22, 2006).
68. "Radical Bulgarian MP Questions Benefits of Agreement on U.S. Bases," BGNES, Sofia, (May 26, 2006 ) via BBC Monitoring Europe - Political, BBC Worldwide Monitoring (March 26, 2006).
69. "Nationalist Leader: U.S. to Bomb Foreign States from Bases in Bulgaria," BGNES, Sofia, (April 27, 2006) via BBC Monitoring Europe - Political, BBC Worldwide Monitoring (April 27, 2006).
70. For an example of Siderov's pro-Russian and anti-Western position, see the summary of a speech he delivered in Moscow called "Globalization: The Last Stage of the Colonization of the Orthodox East" at www.radioislam. org/conferences/#volen/.
71. The Russians liberated Bulgaria from Ottoman Turkish rule in 1878.
72. "100 Years Needed for Bulgaria to Reach Standards of Living in EU Countries," Sofia Echo (July 7, 2007), www.sofiaecho.com/article/ 100-years-needed-for-bulgaria-to-reach-standards-of-living-in-eu-countries/ id_23650/ catid_66/.
73. "Income of Households in Bulgaria Averaged 587 Leva in May 2007," Sofia Echo (July 17, 2007), www.sofiaecho.com/article/income- of-households-in-bulgaria-averaged-587-leva-in-may-2007/id_23849/catid_64/.
74. Albena Shkodorova, "Bulgarians Join the EU with Marxism on Their Minds," Balkan Insight (December 21, 2006), www.birn.eu.com/ en/64/10/1982/.