The protests that broke out outside Sofia and were large-scale in other cities are among the key events of 2025. 2026 will be similar in terms of turbulence, it will not be a calm year - both because of the early vote, and because of the introduction of the euro, and because of the presidential elections. Civic energy will not calm down so easily, it will want its own.
Such a picture was outlined in an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio by the sociologist from the "Trend" Research Center Evelina Slavkova.
The cordon sanitaire against Peevski was implemented on the street, she pointed out. In her words, it is about dismantling a model that society does not accept.
Slavkova sees two different political contexts depending on whether there will be a new political force in the person of Rumen Radev. She focused on two hypotheses - in one, Radev participates, and in the other, he does not participate in the early vote, with more elections following the first elections, which, however, she believes is an extremely risky move for the president.
"Politically, it would be very risky if he decides not to participate in these elections. My expectation is that we will rather have a new player in his person in these elections. If he "jumps" in these elections and participates with his own political project, this will create a new type of coalitions, which from today's perspective seem unexpected. They will also change the focus of the presidential elections."
The small parties in the National Assembly and the small participants in the government will lose, because the political picture will change a lot if we have a new political player. They are the big losers, because they will most likely not find a place in the next parliament, she emphasized.
The protests are aimed at the political class as a whole, so even with the emergence of a new player, the political picture will be mixed up, but an absolute majority would be difficult to achieve, Evelina Slavkova predicts.
The "Tsantsarova" case raises concerns that more critical voices are being silenced, the sociologist noted in connection with the media scandal surrounding the dismissal of the host of the morning block on bTV.