Bulgarian Rise
Български възход
AbbreviationBV
LeaderStefan Yanev
Founded5 May 2022 (2022-05-05)
Ideology
Political positionRight-wing
Colours  Green, Blue, Red
National Assembly
0 / 240
Website
www.bgvazhod.com

Bulgarian Rise (Bulgarian: Български възход, romanized: Balgarski vazhod; BV) is a national conservative[2] political party in Bulgaria. It was founded on 5 May 2022 by Stefan Yanev, the former caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister.[6][7]

Political positions

Some describe the party as both pro-Putin and pro-Russia.[8][9][10][11] Future party leader Yanev was removed from the Petkov Government in March 2022 after he refused to describe the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a war.[12] He launched the party two months later. Despite this, the party backed sending military aid to Ukraine, with the condition that Bulgaria receive modern NATO weaponry in exchange.[13][14] He also called the invasion an act of aggression and stated his support for the sanctions against Russia.[15]

There is little consensus over the party's stances on economic matters. They have been labelled as centre-left,[16] though Yanev himself has said the party is not on the right nor the left.[2]

The party has garnered some criticism for not expressing substantive positions on most political issues.[17]

Structure

The party has one leader, Stefan Yanev. To take part in the 2022 parliamentary snap elections, it allied with four smaller "mandate carrier" parties, Svoboda, Party of the Greens, the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival , the Agrarian People's Union and Union of Free Democrats.[18][19][20]

2022 composition

Party Abbr. Leader Ideology 2022 result
Bulgarian Rise BV Stefan Yanev National conservatism 115,872 votes (4.5%);

12 seats

Svoboda SVOBODA Vladimir Simeonov Nationalism
Party of the Greens [bg] [a] PV Valentin Simov Green politics
Alternative for Bulgarian Revival ABV Rumen Petkov Social democracy
Agrarian People's Union ZNS Rumen Yonchev Agrarianism
Union of Free Democrats SSD Milan Milanov Conservatism

In February 2023, Yanev announced that the party would contest the upcoming elections individually, although members of their previous electoral coalition could participate as part of the 'civic quota' or as list members.[21]

Relations with BSP

Following the 2023 local elections, the Socialist Party (BSP) started to meet with like-minded parties to form a 'patriotic centre-left front'. As a part of this, the party claimed it had met with representatives of BV, but Yanev denied this. BSP also met with parties which ran with BV in the 2022 election.[22]

Electoral history

National Assembly

Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Government
2022 Stefan Yanev 115,872 4.47% (#7)
12 / 240
 New Snap election
2023 77,420 2.93% (#7)
0 / 240
 Decrease 12 Extra-parliamentary

Notes

  1. ^ The Party of the Greens joined the electoral coalition Together [bg] to contest the 2023 election

References

  1. ^ "Former Bulgarian PM launches new party to woo pro-Russian voters". 6 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Янев събира "семейство" в сектора на националния консерватизъм и българския код" [Yanev gathers a "family" in the sector of national conservatism and the Bulgarian code]. News.bg. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  3. ^ Wesolowsky, Tony (2022-10-03). "Do Bulgaria's Snap Elections Signal A Shift Away From The West And Toward The Kremlin?". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  4. ^ Vlaykova, Kalina; Oblakov, Nikolaj (2022-10-02). "Bulgaria election: All you need to know about country's fourth vote in just 18 months". Euronews. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  5. ^ "Former Bulgarian Defense Minister Founded a New Political Party Today - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency". www.novinite.com. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  6. ^ Novinite (2022-05-05). "Former Bulgarian Defense Minister Founded a New Political Party Today". Novinite. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  7. ^ 24 Chasa (2022-05-05). "Стефан Янев: Партията ни е автономна и не трябва да се свързва с президента" (in Bulgarian).((cite news)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Tscherwenkowa, Rumjana (9 June 2022). "Russia's influence could increase". Eurotopics. Capital. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Гл. секретар на президента иронизира партията на Стефан Янев". Sega. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  10. ^ Dzhambazova, Boryana (2022-09-30). "Groundhog Day: It's another Bulgarian election". Politico. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  11. ^ "Leader of Bulgarian Rise: We can accept any Coalition that is in the Interest of the Citizens". Novinite. 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  12. ^ Todorov, Svetoslav (1 March 2022). "Bulgaria Replaces Ousted Defence Minister with NATO Envoy". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Bulgaria Sends Military Aid To Ukraine". OWP. 12 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Divided Bulgaria Finally Promises Ukraine Heavy Weapons". Balkan Insight. 3 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Стефан Янев: Разговори с всички - да, но коалиционно споразумение е дълъг процес". Bulgarian National Radio. 9 October 2022.
  16. ^ Kolev, Ivan (30 April 2022). "Четири леви и русофилски партии ще се учредят в следващите 20 дни". Flagman. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  17. ^ novinite-dnes.bg (12 August 2022). "Prof Dichev:A coalition between PP and DB won't have much effect. Yanev is offering a one-man show". Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  18. ^ ""Български възход" отива на изборите с още три партии". Mediapool.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2022-08-17.
  19. ^ news.bg (2022-08-16). "В надбягване с времето и "Български възход" се регистрира за изборите". News.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2022-08-17.
  20. ^ "Партията на Софиянски се коалира със Стефан Янев - Политика". offnews.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2022-08-30.
  21. ^ mediapool.bg (2023-02-14). ""Български възход" се регистрира самостоятелно за вота, но остави вратичка за коалиция". mediapool.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2023-02-18.
  22. ^ "Стефан Янев отрече участие на "Български възход" в лявото обединение на Нинова". Dnes.dir.bg. 2023-11-29. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
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