The Bulgarian radical right

Pariahs or Partners?

“…The BSP represented the old regime and the SDS the oppositional forces, while the DPS was ready to cooperate with either side and thus enjoyed a pivotal role in government formation (Autengruber 2006, 80;Karasimeonov 2010, 2). When Simeon II arrived on the Bulgarian political scene in the early 2000s, he positioned himself, and his party the NDSV, as an alternative to the existing elites, although he remained open to cooperating with the established parties (Karasimeonov 2010, 2-4; see also Avramov 2015). Even though the NDSV was founded shortly before the 2001 elections, it immediately became the BSP's main competitor.…”

“…It even looked like Ataka might fail to return to parliament in 2013. However, the anti-government protests revived the party, which allowed Ataka to pass the four per cent threshold comfortably (Avramov 2015). Because only four parties entered parliament after the 2013 elections, the 7.3 per cent of the vote won by Ataka resulted in more seats than the previous two terms.…”

“…On socio-cultural issues, however, the distance between these two parties was smaller. Although GERB did not incorporate radical right narratives into its own platform as extensively as other mainstream competitors in the region, Boyko Borisov and his party still approached some of Ataka's nativist positions and employed a "moderate nationalism" (Krasteva 2016, 176; see also Avramov 2015;Pirro 2016). In return for the formal support of GERB's single-party majority government, Ataka expected concessions regarding its socio-cultural core issues.…”

“…In the run-up to the 2013 Bulgarian parliamentary elections, Ataka's support was in decline because it had been supporting the GERB minority government since 2009. Participation in government alienated the party's hardcore supporters in particular (Avramov 2015). As a result, the party tried to distance itself from GERB, which marginally affected the bipolar opposition in the party system.…”

“…In order to prevent the government from reaching the necessary quorum, all of the other GERB and Ataka MPs had left the legislature. Ataka supported the government in other parliamentary votes, but not on the basis of a formal agreement Popova 2014, 2015; see also Karasimeonov 2013aKarasimeonov , 2013bAvramov 2015). Apparently, BSP and Ataka were not ready for closer cooperation, which would have meant overcoming the bipolar opposition in the Bulgarian party system.…”