25 Years Promoting Freedom in Bulgaria

For 25 years now, FNF has been supporting the establishment of liberal democracy in Bulgaria in close collaboration with a large number of partner institutions and liberal friends. A lot has been achieved for good governance and the market economy, but there is still a long way to go! Liberal-minded people and an active civil society will now play a decisive role.

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom was the first German political foundation to support the process of democratic transition in Bulgaria, beginning during the very first days of regime change in 1990. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, on 17th September 2015, the FNF’s Project Office for Southeast Europe hosted an international conference “25 Years Promoting Freedom in Bulgaria”. In the largest liberal convention in the country, dignitaries from Bulgaria and Europe discussed the years of transition towards democracy and market economy, and the role of liberals in this process.

“Liberalism is active and vibrant in Bulgaria, but there is still a long way to go. The building of a liberal-minded civil society, which does not rely on the state for the provision of prosperity, is the core of the democratic process but takes a lot of time, even decades to be achieved”. With these words Prof. Karl-Heinz Paqué, Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Foundation, opened the event then yielded the floor for welcoming remarks by Vesna Pusić, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia and Meglena Kuneva, Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs of Bulgaria. Before the two discussion panels, Rumiana Kolarova, Secretary to the President of Bulgaria, congratulated the Foundation on behalf of President Rosen Plevneliev.

The liberal idea has no alternatives in Bulgaria

The liberal idea has no alternatives in Bulgaria

In the first panel, devoted to democratic development, Lyutvi Mestan, President of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party, highlighted the enormous contribution of FNF to the transition process in the country and the liberalisation of MRF, which “did not take the path of an ethnic party, but thanks to the support of FNF, chose to be a liberal one,” and is now one of the most popular in the country. However, liberalism in Bulgaria, like at the European level, has been suffering due to a breakthrough of populist politics, often radical right and left wing, that is without a rational basis. During the tough times of transition, those forces easily took over, undermining the establishment of true democracy and the rule of law. But it was the liberals, who were in government between 2001 and 2005, who scored the landmark successes of the last 25 years – namely, the country’s accession to NATO and the European Union. Stanimir Ilchev, current Co-President of the then-ruling NDSV party, and Deyan Kyuranov, one of the first employees of the Foundation, recalled that fact. “If King Simeon II was not in power during those crucial times, leading a liberal government, I am sure Bulgaria still would not be a member of the European Union,” pointed out Hans van Baalen, MEP and Vice President of the ALDE party, and continued with how dangerous that could have been for the entire region, considering Russia’s aggressive political policies.

The transition towards market economy is still underway

The second panel, “25 Years Promoting Market Economy”, focused on the fluctuations during the transition period from an economic point of view. As Svetla Kostadinova, Executive Director of the Institute for Market Economy, underlined, there are a lot of myths about the Bulgarian economy, but, unfortunately, the transition will continue to be on the agenda over the next 25 years, “simply because it has not been implemented in the right way from the very beginning”. Kostadinova made it clear that in 1996-1997, Bulgaria fell into its most severe economic and financial crisis due to its wrong interpretation of the market economy and its extreme state regulation of the market. “In the subsequent period, reforms have been unreasonably postponed or not implemented at all,” she continued. These circumstances hampered the development of an investment climate, the establishment of small and medium-sized enterprises, the creation of jobs, and the expected substantial increase of the standard of living. Examples of such experiences were shared by Bertram Rollmann, one of the first German investors, whose garment production business in Bulgaria began back in 1992. In fact, entrepreneurship was singled out as the engine of the economy and of economic growth by Nikolay Vassilev, Minister of Economy (2001-2003), who explained that Bulgaria has great potential if it liberalises its economy. “Successful reforms in the communications sector allowed Bulgaria to take the lead in the world rankings of services in that sector,” Vassilev noted and declared that this could be done in other economic sectors as well.

Dr. Rainer Adam, Regional Director for East and Southeast Europe of the FNF, Hans van Baalen, MEP, Vice President of the ALDE Party, King Simeon II, Prime Minister of Bulgaria 2001-2005, Dr. Juli Minoves, President of Liberal International, Daniel Kaddik, Project Director for Southeast Europe of the FNF, and Emil Kirjas, Secretary General of Liberal International

Bulgaria needs to speed up all these reforms because Europe and the world face ever-increasing competition for brains and talent. “People dream of a better world which, however, is not happening. If they see a clear perspectives for the future, they will desire to stay and not to leave the country,” Prof. Paqué stated, giving a strong sign that precisely the initiative of the highly-qualified young people of Bulgaria will be the country’s engine of further positive change.

Liberalism is established, but it needs to be better consolidated 

Over the last 25 years Bulgaria has been undergoing a difficult transition process, marked by successes and failures. However, with tough times still underway, the country needs strong liberal leadership, committed to uphold the liberal values of freedom and to provide credible long-term solutions. “Raise your voices high because liberalism needs to be reaffirmed, needs to be promoted with good examples,” insisted Dr. Juli Minoves, President of Liberal International, during the conference final remarks. ”Liberalism, as an ideology, is more important than ever!”

We, the Project Office for Southeast Europe of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, will continue to support all those liberal-minded political leaders, movements, civil organisations and activists, who strive to bring a perceivable change for prosperity and freedom in Bulgaria.



More info on the website of FNF Southeast Europe. 



The events were part of the international global initiative, »Freedom Week 2015«. In FNF ESEE there were more than 15 events in 8 cities in 6 offices of the Foundation, promoting FNF contributions to Freedom. 

Find here the album from the international conference for the anniversary: