{"id":26867,"date":"2026-04-05T03:06:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T07:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/battle-for-bulgaria-the-eu-opens-a-new-front-in-its-election-war\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T03:06:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T07:06:24","slug":"battle-for-bulgaria-the-eu-opens-a-new-front-in-its-election-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/battle-for-bulgaria-the-eu-opens-a-new-front-in-its-election-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle for Bulgaria: The EU opens a new front in its election war"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The world\u2019s eyes are on Hungary, but the EU is busy crushing a populist revolt in Bulgaria<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though the Hungarian election is only a week away, another threat is already manifesting for the EU\u2019s elite: This time in Bulgaria, where left-wing populist and former President Rumen Radev wants to shut off the money tap to Ukraine, and his opponents want Brussels\u2019 censorship machine to save them. Here we go again.<\/p>\n

On April 19, Bulgarians will vote in the country\u2019s eighth parliamentary election in five years. Called after the resignation of Rosen Zhelyazkov following street protests in November, the election pits centrist Boyko Borissov \u2013 a former prime minister \u2013 and his pro-EU GERB-SDS coalition against the emerging left-leaning Progressive Bulgaria coalition, headed by Radev.<\/p>\n

Who is Bulgaria\u2019s Rumen Radev?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n Rumen Radev leaves the presidential institution in Sofia, Bulgaria, January 23, 2026<\/p>\n


\n \u00a9\u00a0 Getty Images; \u00a0Hristo Vladev <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Radev served as Bulgaria\u2019s president from 2017 until his resignation\u00a0this January. He frequently clashed with Borissov during the latter\u2019s tenure as prime minister, accusing him of incompetence and corruption \u2013 allegations substantiated in 2020 when an image of Borissov lying half naked on a bed next to a pile of money and a handgun spread on social media.<\/p>\n

\n
\n Photos of Boris Borissov sleeping next to a handgun and stacks of euro banknotes<\/p>\n


\n \u00a9\u00a0 social media <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Radev-Borissov rivalry would not concern Brussels if Radev wasn\u2019t a vocal opponent of the EU\u2019s Ukraine policy. Radev has opposed the bloc\u2019s \u201cself-destructive\u201d<\/em> sanctions on Russia since 2022, views a Ukrainian victory as \u201cimpossible,\u201d<\/em> opposes military aid to Kiev, and has declared that \u201cending the war in Ukraine requires more diplomacy and negotiations with Russia.\u201d<\/em> For a country with four NATO military bases and a ten-year defense deal with Ukraine, the issue is critical for Kiev\u2019s backers.<\/p>\n

With two weeks to go, Progressive Bulgaria is leading Borrisov\u2019s GERB-SDS by ten points, according to a polling aggregate compiled by Politico. Faced with this outbreak of popular democracy that\u00a0challenges its fundamental policy positions, the Bulgarian establishment has called for EU reinforcements.<\/p>\n

Is the EU meddling in the Bulgarian election?<\/h2>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
Battle for Hungary: How the EU plans to defeat Viktor Orban<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The playbook will be familiar to anyone following our \u2018Battle for Hungary\u2019 series, with one difference: Brussels\u2019 censorship tools are being deployed in Budapest to oust the incumbent Viktor Orban; in Sofia, they\u2019re being used to squash a rising anti-establishment political force.<\/p>\n

Last week, caretaker Bulgarian Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov requested that the EU activate its \u2018Rapid Response System\u2019 (RRS), claiming that Russia is interfering against Borissov. Activated in Hungary last month, the RRS empowers EU-approved \u2018fact-checkers\u2019 to flag online content as \u2018disinformation\u2019 and request its removal from social media platforms such as TikTok and Meta.<\/p>\n

Platforms that refuse to comply are liable to fines under the EU\u2019s Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force in 2022. The EU has activated the RRS in five elections since 2024 \u2013 in France, Germany, Hungary, Romania, and non-EU member Moldova \u2013 and in every case, an investigation by the US House Judiciary Committee this year found that fact-checkers \u201calmost exclusively targeted\u201d<\/em> right-wing and populist candidates and organizations. \u201cMoreover, the requirement that these fact-checkers be approved by the European Commission creates a clear structural incentive for the participants to censor Euroskeptic opinion and content,\u201d<\/em> the committee noted.<\/p>\n

An EU spokesperson told Politico this week that it was ready to take action in Bulgaria, \u201cin particular via the Rapid Alert System for real-time information exchanges.\u201d<\/em> Not to be confused with the Rapid Response System, the Rapid Alert System<\/a> allows the EU to compile information about supposed \u2018disinformation campaigns\u2019, so that more severe measures, including the RRS, can then be taken.<\/p>\n

How the EU is outsourcing its dirty work \u2013 again<\/h2>\n

Gyurov\u2019s government is already preparing the proof the EU needs. Last week, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry set up a temporary unit to \u201ccounter disinformation and combat hybrid threats,\u201d<\/em> which will be \u201cadvised\u201d<\/em> by former Bellingcat investigator Christo Grozev.<\/p>\n

\n
\n Bulgarian Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov and Foreign MInister Nadezhda Neynski hold a virtual meeting with Bellingcat activist Christo Grozev, March 25, 2026<\/p>\n


\n \u00a9\u00a0 Bulgarian Foreign Ministry <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grozev, whose allegations of Russian poisoning plots<\/a> were considered too outlandish by even Vladimir Zelensky\u2019s officials, is a wanted man in Russia over his role in encouraging Russian fighter pilots to defect to Ukraine with promises of money and EU citizenship.<\/p>\n

According to the ministry, Grozev will \u201cassist the organization with specific information exposing malicious influences,\u201d<\/em> which will then \u201cbe able to be addressed both at the national and European levels through mechanisms developed by the European Commission.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

If Grozev\u2019s research is not enough, the Center for the Study of Democracy \u2013 an EU-funded think tank \u2013 has already published a report alleging that Bulgaria \u201cfaces sustained Russian information manipulation pressure,\u201d<\/em> and that certain \u201chigh-risk narrative pressure points\u201d<\/em> must be tackled.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
The US has accused the EU of censorship: Here\u2019s how the bloc\u2019s consensus machine works\u00a0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

These include online content \u201cframing leaders as corrupt,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u201cframing candidates as warmongers dragging Bulgaria toward conflict,\u201d<\/em> and \u201cPromoting the claim that sanctions harm Bulgaria (and the EU) more than Russia.\u201d<\/em> The report explicitly calls for the activation of the RSS and the punishment of online platforms on which this content is posted.<\/p>\n

Working hand in hand with the Bulgarian government, the EU is paying researchers to justify the use of its own censorship tools, in order to stifle legitimate political speech that harms its broader geopolitical agenda. This will come as no surprise to anyone who\u2019s been following the Hungarian election. There, the activation of the RSS was justified by a report alleging that Russian President Vladimir Putin had dispatched a team of \u201cpolitical technologists\u201d<\/em> to Budapest to rig the election for Orban. The report was published by an EU-funded opposition journalist, and quoted anonymous EU spies.<\/p>\n

Tails are wagging dogs in the EU, and the \u201crequest\u201d<\/em> for Grozev\u2019s involvement could easily be seen as another such case.<\/p>\n

Will Rumen Radev get the Georgescu treatment?<\/h2>\n

Unlike in Hungary, the cards are stacked against Radev in Bulgaria. Whereas Viktor Orban has been in power for 16 years and appointed the justices who oversee election-related cases, Radev\u2019s Progressive Bulgaria is a new party with no seats in parliament, facing a pro-EU incumbent with control of the judiciary. Radev experienced this firsthand last year, when as president, he attempted to hold a referendum on Bulgaria\u2019s accession to the eurozone. Radev\u2019s referendum proposal was dismissed by parliament and rejected by the country\u2019s constitutional court. One of the judges who authored the ruling, Atanas Semov, previously received an award from the European Commission for his written work on the judicial system of the EU.<\/p>\n

Radev\u2019s situation is closer to that of Calin Georgescu, a right-wing populist who emerged from relative obscurity to win a shock first-round victory in neighboring Romania\u2019s 2024 presidential election. The Romanian and EU authorities immediately declared that Russia had interfered in the election and had run a coordinated campaign on TikTok to help Georgescu win, and the election was annulled.<\/p>\n

The day after the annulment, TikTok wrote to the European Commission stating that it had found no evidence of a Russian-linked campaign to support Georgescu, and that it had in fact been asked to censor pro-Georgescu content by the authorities in Bucharest. This content included \u201cdisrespectful\u201d<\/em> posts that \u201cinsult the [ruling] PSD party.\u201d<\/em> TikTok was ordered by the EU to tighten its \u201cmitigation measures\u201d<\/em> before the vote was re-done in 2025. The platform complied, but was nevertheless punished by Brussels. For TikTok\u2019s insolence, the European Commission opened legal proceedings against the platform for \u201ca suspected breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in relation to TikTok\u2019s obligation to properly assess and mitigate systemic risks linked to election integrity.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n A statement to the European Commission by TikTok following the Romanian presidential election in November 2024<\/p>\n


\n \u00a9\u00a0 House Judiciary Committee <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TikTok and its ilk are already on notice in Bulgaria, and should Radev repeat Georgescu\u2019s surprise victory, the Bulgarian government and the EU are already armed with all the \u2018proof\u2019 of Russian interference they need to bring the full weight of the legal system down upon him.<\/p>\n

The bottom line<\/h2>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
Battle for Hungary: Could an Orban win trigger \u2018Maidan on steroids\u2019?<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Despite the EU and Sofia possessing the means, motive, and opportunity to contest a win by Radev, the situation may not arise. Progressive Bulgaria is currently polling at around 31%, comfortably above GERB-SDS\u2019 21%, but not enough for an outright majority. This suggests that the April 19 vote may lead to another fragmented parliament, with Radev either forced to dilute his positions to build a coalition, or stymied until another election is called.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the fact that the EU has already intervened in four elections since 2024, and has its thumb on the scales of another two at present, suggests that Brussels takes the populist threat to its authority seriously. It is becoming clear that the European Commission will invoke the specter of Russian interference any time a dissenting voice arises, whether on the left, like Radev, or the right, like Orban.<\/p>\n

Brussels wields a toolbox full of hammers, and to the EU bureaucracy, every problem looks like a nail. With the bloc\u2019s economy reeling and almost every pro-Brussels government under water in the approval tables, the question that will be answered in Hungary and Bulgaria, and in every EU election to come, is for how long the Brussels bureaucracy can keep forcing its will onto voters who clearly want an alternative.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world\u2019s eyes are on Hungary, but the EU is busy crushing a populist revolt in Bulgaria Though the Hungarian election is only a week away, another threat is already manifesting for the EU\u2019s elite: This time in Bulgaria, where left-wing populist and former President Rumen Radev wants to shut off the money tap to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[483],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rt-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBattle for Bulgaria: The EU opens a new front in its election war - Sting FM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Battle for Bulgaria: The EU opens a new front in its election war - 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