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Articles by Dimitar Vatsov
A loaded gun
Anti-liberalism and anti-globalism resonate with people who feel marginalized by globalization. Precarious life fuels populism worldwide. But the populist wave of the last decade is not merely spontaneous. In Bulgaria and North Macedonia, for example, populist narratives are disseminated in an entirely instrumental and intentional way. They stem not from the Kremlin, whose propaganda of course tries to reinforce them at the local level, but which is certainly not omnipresent.
Eurozine The miracle that never materialized Eurozine
The EP elections in Finland reflect the fallout from four years of highly unpopular rightwing rule, with the Centre Party losing the support that had previously secured it control of the country’s government to the Greens and the Social Democrats. In fact, the party fell into fifth place, behind the far-right Finns Party.
Stress test
European issues are expected to remain peripheral in Austria this May, where the outcome of the EP election will mostly reflect the extent of public support for the government formed in 2017, when things began to take a sharp turn to the right. In Bulgaria, the creeping restoration of local elites continues independently of European politics, which is determined by a separate set of tactical considerations. Here nationalist populism is a likely tool for state capture.
Mood of the Union
It takes some dedication to get excited about the European elections. Voter turnout has declined consistently since 1979, a tendency not reversed by the accession of the Mediterranean countries in two waves in the 1980s, or even by the enlargement of the 2000s, even though eastern European members make up a huge proportion of the electorate.
The weight of soap bubbles
It is no secret that Russia is once again assuming the features of a totalitarian state, and that it uses systematic propaganda to achieve its goals in its former colonies, which include, of course, Lithuania. The fact that our large neighbour distorts the history, politics and everyday life of the Baltic countries, introducing ideologically mythologized images and spreading disinformation, whether blatant or concealed, is nothing new.
Co-opting discontent: Russian propaganda in the Bulgarian media
More than two years ago, a small group of Bulgarian researchers in the social and human sciences (including ourselves) was struck by the rise of anti-liberal discourse in Bulgaria. Although common sense told us that it was most likely due to the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis, we decided to study it. In 2016, we conducted the study.
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