Bulgarien heute. Politik, Parteien, Personen - Vortrag von Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes

In the organizer's words:

It is not easy to gain an overview of political developments in our EU partner country Bulgaria in the recent past and the present. At least if you are not constantly and intensively involved with the country and its political scene. Here in Germany, we are - so far - used to rather stable conditions: between August 1949 and May 2025, i.e. in just over 75 years, voters were called to a total of 21 parliamentary elections. Only six times during this period have legislative periods ended prematurely before the end of the regular four-year term. Voters in Bulgaria have been called to parliamentary elections 15 times since the country shook off the communist dictatorship in 1990/91, 35 years ago. Seven times in the period from April 2021 to October 2024 alone. When they vote for the eighth time in five years in April 2026, current poll results suggest that it is quite possible that a party alliance will win that did not even exist at the last election in October 2024. This is because Rumen Radev, a former fighter pilot and general in the Bulgarian Air Force and one of the key figures in Bulgarian politics for a decade now, brought together several parties that most closely resemble our social democracy under the name "Progressive Bulgaria" at the beginning of March 2026. Radev, one of the country's most popular politicians, was first elected president in 2016 (as an independent candidate with the support of the Bulgarian Socialists). In November 2021, Radev was re-elected for a second term with a clear majority. However, he resigned from the office of President in January 2026 - possibly, as was immediately speculated, to swap the largely representative position of Head of State for the politically more important position of Prime Minister after the upcoming parliamentary elections in April 2026. If "Progressive Bulgaria" becomes the strongest force in the parliament in Sofia.

So even if Radev becomes head of government, Bulgaria will continue to struggle with key problems, such as corruption (which Radev has always campaigned against). The country will also have to clarify its position in the European Union (since 2007) and in NATO (since 2004) - as a Black Sea country, it also holds a key strategic position with regard to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Radev is considered to be rather pro-Russian. And the country is highly dependent on Russian energy supplies.

So it will be good to have someone who knows the country and its politics explain some things to us. It's a good thing that we were able to get Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes on board. The graduate political scientist heads the foreign office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Sofia and also has many years of experience with other Balkan states.