With Russia seeking to weaken NATO, Bulgaria has become an important counterweight to Russia’s strategic goals. And Bulgaria has much to commend it, but after a quarter century of total independence, Bulgarians have become tired of promises voiced with predictable hollowness by politicians of every persuasion.
Initially, the collapse of the Communist regime brought massive political and economic changes to Bulgaria. The establishment of multi-party democracy resurrected the political atmosphere of the pre-Communist era and the creation of large-scale private ownership brought forth businesses that did not exist under Communist rule. Large private industries, banks, independent media, mobile phone networks, tourism, with hotels and restaurants, etc. have facilitated consumers’ demands never seen before in Bulgaria’s long history. The state has ceased dominating people’s lives. Social media, the internet, and travel have been basically unconstrained. Indeed, the past twenty-five years have been the freest in recent Bulgarian history.
