On September 19, the Bulgarian Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Media rejected a bill proposed by the chairperson of the Vuzrazhdane (Revival) Party to establish a registry of “foreign agents.” The Revival Party, which was founded in 2014 and is considered pro-Russian by some, came in third in Bulgaria’s snap parliamentary election in June, winning 41 out of 240 seats. The party has expressed support for maintaining strong ties with Russia.
The proposed foreign agent law, which Revival claims is similar to the one in the United States, would prohibit individuals labeled as “foreign agents” from working in educational institutions and certain ministries. They would also be required to label any material they produce with a large inscription stating “foreign agent,” similar to the law in Russia. This law was recently passed in Georgia by the ruling Georgian Dream party and has been criticized for allowing authorities to monitor NGOs and media outlets that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. The bill has been condemned by the United States and the European Union, and the European Council has frozen Georgia’s EU accession process in response.
Revival has also been successful in passing anti-LGBTQ legislation, following in the footsteps of Georgian Dream and similar actions taken in Russia. Despite initially being hesitant, Bulgaria has become more supportive of Ukraine as the war has progressed. The country has provided various forms of aid to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, but pro-Russian sentiment remains strong within Bulgaria.
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