Dr. Rumena Filipova gave a public lecture entitled “Public Opinion in Bulgaria on National and Global Questions in 2024”, which took place on November 12 in the Ceremonial Hall at Sofia University. The event was organized by the Institute for Global Analytics in partnership with Youth Association for Global Security and Memory for Tomorrow Association.
The lecture detailed the main trends in Bulgarian societal dispositions regarding Bulgaria’s membership in the EU and NATO, the country’s key strategic partnerships, perceptions of threat from Russia and China. Attitudes to domestic issues were also analyzed, including stances on migration, media and democracy as well as far-right nationalism. Dr. Filipova’s lecture additionally placed public opinion in Bulgaria in the wider context of attitudinal patterns in Central and Eastern Europe, pointing out that Bulgarian respondents are distinguished by the weakest perception of danger from Moscow and Beijing; the strongest preference for Russia as a strategic partner; the lowest level of satisfaction with the functioning of government and media in the country.
The vibrant discussion raised critical questions, encompassing:
- The reasons for the nationalist and even anti-democratic turn in the views of youth in Bulgaria and Europe;
- The challenges in the Bulgarian educational system related to the lack of reform of content in history textbooks that perpetuate pro-Russian stances;
- The impact of national identity on contemporary attitudes;
- The main disseminators and narratives of pro-Kremlin disinformation and the state of the media in Bulgaria.