Thread by @joannaelmy

This is the building of the @Europarl_EN in Sofia, #Bulgaria, after the "peaceful march" of the pro-Russian Revival party led by Kostadin Kostadinov. The marches draw increasingly bigger crowds. But Kostadinov's success was not an overnight sensation 1/

Kostadin Kostadinov came to prominence in 2020, in the midst of anti-vaxx and anti-COVID19 protests. But he has long batted for the Kremlin on the Bulgarian political field. More on Kostadinov and Vazrazhdane below. This is a thread about #EU Enabling. rferl.org/a/bulgaria-rev… 2/

Kostadinov relies on simple strategies to ascend to power: fear-mongering and hard nationalism fueled by disinformation, propaganda, and conspiratorial thinking. But prior to his ascent, #Bulgaria had turned into a VERY hospitable environment for the right populist organism. 3/

From the early 2010s onward, media freedom and institutional integrity in #Bulgaria were steadily eroded under #GERB's rule, under the benevolent protection of the @EPPGroup. No one in Europe thought the country can do better and so the country did not, indeed, do better. 4/

As former PM Borissov, media mogul Delyan Peevski (MRF, @ALDEParty) and others usurped institutions and media, casting out prominent voices and undermining checks and balances, Brussels turned its head the other way and focused on the louder autocrats, like Orban. 5/

Circa 2015-17, a tight-knit #GERB network of party acolytes and personalities started building a network of pro-government news websites, opinion networks, and "conservative" outlets. These outlets, in conjunction with Peevski-owned media, made sure disinfo flowed steadily. 6/

Undermining democracy by all means possible to cement #GERB & others in power meant that every piece of disinformation, Kremlin-produced or homegrown, American conspiratorial or anti systemic, easily found its way into the Bulgarian information stream. hssfoundation.org/wp-content/upl… 7/

For years the country hit the bottom of every press media index and it circulated the foreign press under labels like "most corrupt", "poorest", "the disappearing nation" and the likes. None of this bothered @EPPGroup or Brussels, who continued to support #GERB. 8/

Fast-forward to the 2020s, COVID19 & Ukraine = a decade of neglect backfiring, and badly. Letting disinformation and propaganda run free for political gain has led to rising hostility towards the EU, strong pro-Kremlin sentiment, and extreme polarization. 9/

Currently in a parliamentary crisis, #Bulgaria is torn between East and West, between imperialism and freedom, with no free media or counter-disinformation effort, and years of audience priming through information operations. #Kostadinov's influence is projected to grow. 10/

I regret to say it, but the current democratic crisis in Bulgaria is partly the result of years of #European institutional neglect, arrogance towards Eastern Europe, and the belief that corruption and autocracy is the best that the country can do. toest.bg/sophia-in-et-v… 11/

The population is exhausted by a decade of corrupt government with no improvement of living conditions in most rural areas, no reliable media sources, and no reliable courts (current #Geshev high court crisis is another topic altogether). In such environment... 12/

... of political apathy, anti-systemic actors like Kostadinov are bound to thrive. This could cost #Bulgaria its #EU and #NATO membership, and could mean a solid win for #Russia. There are two fronts. One is in Ukraine. The other one is the truth. And we're losing that war. 13/