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Demography and economic geography. – State of south-eastern Europe, in the north-eastern sector of the Balkan peninsula. The population registered in 2014 was 7,277,831 residents (according to an estimate by UNDESA, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs), in sharp decline compared to the 2001 census (7,932,984 residents), as a consequence of a natural increase and a decidedly negative migratory balance, with a progressive aging of the population (26% are over 60 years of age). age). The urban population constitutes 73% of the total, mainly concentrated in the capital, Sofia (1,221,292 residents) And in the urban centers of Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. The Bulgarian ethnic group, clearly prevalent (85%), is flanked by a Turkish minority and a rather substantial Roma minority. The majority of the population is of the Christian Orthodox religion, while 10% declare themselves to be Muslim.

Economic conditions. – It joined the European Union in 2007, Bulgaria is the poorest country in the Union, with a per capita GDP at purchasing power parity (PPA) of $ 17,115 in 2014, an unemployment that stands at 12.5% ​​(2014) and more than a fifth of the population below the poverty line. The Bulgarian economy largely depends on the industrial sector (30%), inherited from the USSR, and on the services sector (64%); GDP growth, which recorded a good trend between 2003 and 2008 (+ 5.5%), then collapsed in 2009 coinciding with the global economic crisis, and then returned to slightly positive levels from 2011. I the most developed industrial sectors are the steel and metallurgical sectors; but exports mainly concern finished or semi-finished products, mostly artifacts from the textile industry which boasts a long tradition; the main export partners are Germany, Turkey, Italy and Greece. Imports concern, on the other hand, machinery and high-tech products, and energy resources, on which Bulgaria depends for 39% of its needs. Despite having considerable coal deposits within it and a nuclear power plant that satisfies about 20% of its own needs, the Bulgaria, in fact, depends on Russia for the import of gas and oil, a dependency that records a constant trade balance. negative. Due to its position, Bulgaria is assuming, however, a strategic role in the infrastructure project for the transport of Russian gas to Central Europe (South Stream), and, although not yet part of the Schengen area, also an important role in the trans-European transport networks (TEN-T) towards Eastern Europe. Furthermore, entry into the EU has allowed for firmer control over some critical issues in the country: corruption and organized crime (for which the EU suspended the disbursement of EU aid in 2008), freedom of expression and press, and the discriminatory treatment of ethnic minorities, particularly Macedonian and Roma. For Bulgaria 2019, please check philosophynearby.com.

History. – In the presidential elections of October 2006, the outgoing Georgi Parvanov was confirmed for a second term and won the ballot against Volen Siderov, leader of Ataka, with 75.9% of the vote. On 1 January 2007 the Bulgaria officially became a member of the European Union and on 20 May the first elections of the 18 seats assigned to the country in the European Parliament were held. On that occasion, with 21.7%, the conservative Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party led by the mayor of Sofia Boyko Borisov stood as an effective alternative to the government of the socialist Sergei Stanišev.

As the GERB gained popularity, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and its allies lost support, especially after corruption allegations, deeply rooted organized crime in the country and the lack of concrete results from the institutional and legal reforms associated with the country. accession to the EU, the European Commission in July 2008 suspended the disbursement of 486 million euros of EU funds destined for Bulgaria.

In the following European elections in June 2009, the GERB obtained 5 seats, and in the parliamentarians in July it collected 39.71% of the votes, winning 116 seats out of 240. Borisov formed a center-right government led by his party with the support of Ataka, Blue coalition and Order, law and justice. The new executive immediately tackled the problems related to corruption and organized crime, and the EU released several tranches of aid that had remained frozen, deciding, however, to extend control over Bulgaria until 2010.

Borisov carried out an anti-crime campaign through a high-profile reform plan, while the Bulgarian political class was overwhelmed by a series of judicial inquiries that mainly involved exponents of the previous administrations, and also affected prominent figures such as the then Minister of Health Bozhidar Nanev, later acquitted in 2012.

In October 2011, the GERB triumphed in the municipal elections, and its presidential candidate Rossen Plevneliev, former Minister of Regional Development and Public Works in the Borisov government, won the elections in the second round with 52.58% of the vote, beating the socialist Ivaylo Kalfin. The executive was criticized for continuing negative EU reports on the effectiveness of the reforms and for the attack on Burgas airport, in which a group of Israeli tourists lost their lives in July 2012, questioning the effectiveness of services. Bulgarian security officers.

A series of popular protests against the high cost of living, persistent poverty and corruption and the scandals of extortion between politics and organized crime led Borisov to resign in February 2013 and the president to give the mandate to a series of technical governments. In the parliamentary elections of 5 October 2014, the GERB was confirmed as the first party in Bulgaria. Borisov formed a new government in coalition with the Reformist Bloc and with the external support of the Patriotic Front and the Alternative for the Bulgarian revival.