Bulgarian national identity in an era of European integrationPublished on openDemocracy (https://www.opendemocracy.net)

Bulgarian national identity in an era of Europeanintegration

Bulgarian national identity in an era of European integration

Philip Dandolov [1] 13 December 2012 Subjects:

europe [2]International politics [3]Ideas [4]Economics [5]Democracy and government [6]Civil society [7]EU [8]Bulgaria [9]

[10]

[11] Almost six years after its accession to the European Union, Bulgaria is confronted with the ghosts ofa nationalist past. Barriers to Europeanism, however, are weaker than ever.

IsBulgaria's door open to the EU? Flickr/Opalpeterliu. Some rights reserved.

Bulgarian nationalism has traditionally been associated with moderation and a lack of affinity withextremist ideologies despite the countrys somewhat difficult history and the continued salience ofissues pertaining to ethnic harmony in contemporary Bulgaria. Unlike other Balkan countries like

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Bulgarian national identity in an era of European integrationPublished on openDemocracy (https://www.opendemocracy.net)

Romania, the self-conceptualizations of Bulgarian nationhood have been characterized as largelybeing premised on the symbiosis between language, history and culture, and a relative lack ofemphasis on biological categories, like race.

The term 'Bulgarian ethnic model' was frequently utilized during the 1999 Kosovo War in order todistinguish Bulgaria from its neighbouring states and to emphasize the countrys perceived right tolead the way in terms of helping reclaim the phrase unruly Balkans by attaching a positiveconnotation to it.

From a historical standpoint, Bulgarian understandings of the nation have had an uneasy relationshipwith Europeanism. As in other countries in southeastern Europe, the years in the aftermath ofliberation from Ottoman rule saw attempts at reviving 'the true national consciousness'. At the sametime, this period pitted 'traditionalists' and 'modernists' against each other, the former arguingagainst the 'constant importing of civilizational models from abroad' [the west], the latteremphasizing the need for 'national rejuvenation' that could only be achieved through the borrowingof liberal traditions, which were seen as almost non-existent within the authentic national space asAnna Kravsteva referred to it in 2004.

Certain western discourses emphasizing the 'temporality of space' appealed to both sides of thedivide, as their implication was that 'economically and culturally underdeveloped nations wouldgradually catch up with the more modern [western] states, and rejected the contention that certaincountries were always doomed to remain confined to the footnotes of history'. After 1878,Europeanism was generally associated with the 'strategic and intelligent use' of foreign culturalexemplars.

One source of anti-Europeanist sentiments was the Bulgarian Orthodox church. The influence ofreligion on Bulgarian social and political life increased in the aftermath of the countrys liberationfrom Ottoman rule.

The Bulgarian Orthodox church at the time envisioned itself as having a duty to fulfill a patrioticvocation and tended to display staunchly pro-Russian sentiments. These pro-Russian (and byextension pro-Slavic) attitudes tended to be accompanied by negative reactions towards anyattempts on the part of the Bulgarian state to be overly accommodating to western countries andpursue stronger bonds with them. In general, the adoption of 'European social mores' was frownedupon by the church hierarchy.

Unlike Protestantism, Orthodoxy has been depicted as a traditionalist religious denomination, whichimplies that as a matter of principle it is suspicious towards modernization attempts. In this context,it has sometimes been claimed that the Communist totalitarian regime did not really exact asignificant toll on Orthodox worship and observance within Bulgaria, as the assumption is that evenwithout Communism, Orthodoxy would have inevitably fallen victim to the modernization processesand suffered marginalization within society.

Orthodox ethics have also been criticized as imbued with political passivity and a lack of civicconsciousness, in marked contrast to the 'modern mentality' deemed a prerequisite to the successfulparticipation in political life. There have been marked temporal shifts in the perceptions ofEuropeanism within Bulgaria. Between the two world wars, Europeanism developed a much morenegative connotation, as it began to be associated with cultural assimilation and started to be seenas a threat to Bulgarian ethno-cultural distinctiveness. During the communist era, Pan-Slavism wasput on a pedestal, which further contributed to anti-Europeanism and such sentiments generallyworked to the advantage of the Communist regime.

On the general societal level, the early 1990s were characterized by a lot of sympathy for Europeanmodels, which was however a reflection of the creeping nihilism and eagerness to throw away all theremnants of communism. As Anna Krasteva comments,In Bulgaria, there was a tendency to ascribenormality to all other countries with the exception of our own. Similarly, in the 1990s, parties inBulgaria (especially those on the left side of the political spectrum) attempted to rebrand themselvesas responsible actors, as they were hungry to obtain legitimacy in international circles. Thus, theydemonstrated a high degree of expediency in becoming attuned to the ways of the Europarties.

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Bulgarian national identity in an era of European integrationPublished on openDemocracy (https://www.opendemocracy.net)

In terms of the general political and societal attitudes in Bulgaria towards EU membership (thecountrys formal application for membership was submitted in 1995, in the same year as that of theother CEE states), they have largely reflected an understanding of EU membership as being asystemic benefit (which implied that there was an inordinate focus on the 'prestige' aspects ofmembership and a lack of detailed comprehension of the 'institutional elements' typical of the EU).Since the late 1990s, a 'permissive consensus' regarding EU membership has reigned withinBulgaria.

It also has to be taken into account that the early 2000s arguably saw a normalization of thediscourses pertaining to the Communist past. The support garnered by Tsar Simeon II (son of the lastBulgarian king who ruled the country through regents before the Communist) who became PrimeMinister of the country in 2001, was seen as a reflection of a people at the crossroads he wasregarded as both 'foreign' and 'Bulgarian' due to being conceptualized as a 'western political figure',but also as a person who had embodied some of the historical struggles of the Bulgarians throughhis personal experiences.

Ultimately, the NDSV (Simeon IIs party) rule turned out to be relatively unsuccessful from alegitimacy standpoint due to the low rankings given to Bulgaria when it came to aspects like thetackling of corruption. Consequently, a new populist drift with a more anti-Europeanist slant emergedin 2005 through the creation of Ataka, a Eurosceptic and anti-establishment party.

Interestingly, this brash anti-Europeanism appeared to be quite short-lived. My interviews with Atakamembers reveal a general fondness for Europe as a cultural space and there is a degree of sympathytowards EU core countries like Germany and France. Furthermore, Bulgarias membership in theEuropean Union is not viewed as likely to negatively affect the deepening of links between Russiaand Bulgaria. Members of patriotic parties in Bulgaria and general society remain quite skepticalregarding the ideology of multiculturalism and do not generally believe that multicultural countriesare likely to have a bright future.

'Ottoman nationalism' has been regarded as exhibiting features of an 'administrative and politicallyshaped patriotism drawing on support for modernization like the adoption of progressive legal codes'and a lack of intention to create a fully-fledged Ottoman ethnicity as Diana Mishkova has argued. Incertain respects, the Bulgarians tendency to be somewhat negatively disposed towards a'multicultural society' might reflect a certain wariness due to the historical association betweenimperial entities such as the Ottoman Empire and multiculturalism.

At the same time, non-Caucasian members of western societies are not always thought of as equalsto indigenous westerners and this attitude is to a degree similar to the pessimism associated withthe 'catching up' prospects for Eastern European societies when it comes to reaching the level ofdevelopment of western European ones. In addition, western credentials are not always readilybestowed upon relatively less affluent European states, like Spain and Portugal.

Interestingly, liberal-minded Bulgarians sometimes react with suspicion to overt displays ofnationalism and view them as manifestations of latent pro-Communist sentiments. This attitudecould in part be seen as attributable to the authoritarianism (in terms of the parties internalworkings) associated with patriotic parties and the brash rhetoric that is sometimes employed by theproponents of such ideologies.

The civilizational element tied to [western] European identity is very much in vogue today amongcontemporary Bulgarians. It is doubtful that the six years that have passed since the countrys entryinto the EU have fundamentally changed the relationship between Bulgarian and European identities,but it seems quite likely that in decades to come, debates regarding the nature of the Europeanidentity will see many enthusiastic Bulgarian participants.

Further reading

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Bulgarian national identity in an era of European integrationPublished on openDemocracy (https://www.opendemocracy.net)

Dimitrov, Vesselin (2009). Political Transitions in Central and Eastern Europe: Domestic andExternal Dimensions"

Directorate General for Internal Policies (2009). The Selection of Candidates for the EuropeanParliament by National Parties and the Impact of European Political Parties

Encheva, Svetla (2002). Orthodox Ethics and the Spirit of Post-Totalitarianism"

Gyarfasova, Olga, Grigorij Meceznikov and Daniel Smilov (2000). Populist Politics and LiberalDemocracy in Central and Eastern Europe

Ivanova, Radost (2005). Factors that caused the changes in the day-to-day cultural activities ofcontemporary Bulgarians"

Karasimeonov, Georgi (2009). Is the concept of populism useful from a scholarly standpoint?

Krasteva, Anna (2004). Bulgarian Ethnic Politics"

Mishkova, Diana (2009). Toward an interpretative framework for the study of the politics of nationalpeculiarity in the nineteenth century"SideboxesRelated stories: Debating the commons in post-socialist Bulgaria [12] Bulgaria, the end of innocence [13] Bulgaria, terror and aftershock [14] Bulgarias tense week: spark, fire, and solvent [15] East European Geographobia [16] Country or region: Bulgaria EU Topics: Civil society Democracy and government Economics Ideas International politics $(document).ready(function(){ $("div#contentgrid").removeClass('grid-8');$("div#contentgrid").addClass('grid-6'); }); About the author

Philip Dandolov is a postgraduate research student at the University of Bath. Related Articles Debating the commons in post-socialist Bulgaria [12]Mariya IvanchevaBulgaria, the end of innocence [13]John O'BrennanBulgaria, terror and aftershock [14]Dimitar BechevBulgarias tense week: spark, fire, and solvent [15]Daniel SmilovEast European Geographobia [16]Bashkim Shehu

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