Revival (Bulgarian: Възраждане, romanized: Vazrazhdane) is a far-right political party in Bulgaria. Founded in August 2014, its chairman is Kostadin Kostadinov. The party is characterised by various analysts and media as ultranationalist, pro-Russian, anti-EU, anti-NATO, being opposed to COVID-19 vaccinations and spreading anti-vaccine and anti-LGBT rhetoric. In the 52nd National Assembly of Bulgaria, Revival is the smallest parliamentary group, having only 12 seats. In the 2026 parliamentary election, it lost 60% of its seats from the 51st National Assembly, where it was the third largest bloc (behind GERB–SDS and PP–DB) and the second largest party (behind GERB).
History In June 2014, Kostadin Kostadinov told media that there would be a Constituent Assembly on 2 August of the same year in the city of Pliska to create the party "Revival". The founders chose the day due to its significance as being the anniversary of the Ilinden Uprising. Kostadinov founded the party after he became unhappy following Krasimir Karakachanov's reelection as leader of IMRO-BNM in 2012.
Entrance into parliament
The party grew rapidly due to the Bulgarian political crisis. They first entered the Bulgarian National Assembly after the 2021 general election, gaining 13 seats. A member of Revival's parliamentary group left them in June 2022. The party would more than double its presence in the assembly, gaining 14 more seats in the 2022 general election and gaining another 10 seats in the 2023 general election bringing their total seats to 37. This came as the country drew closer to its adoption of the Euro, while the government was financially backing Ukraine in its defense against Russia. Only 30% of Bulgarians view Russia as a threat, and far more are worried about rising inflation and possible economic concerns with the adoption of the euro. Despite the party's pro-Russian rhetoric, observer Vesela Tcherneva, from the European Council on Foreign Relations, says that "Putin has lost some popularity so the campaign is not pro-Russia but anti-West, but it's the other side of the same coin". Additionally, the party has called for a public referendum on withdrawal from NATO and normalization of relations with Russia. The party has also supported the expansion of the Russian gas company Lukoil's presence in the country and to "renegotiate the conditions with the EU" either for a special status, or possible withdrawal. Additionally, the party launched a petition that proposes postponing the adoption of the Euro until further notice. The petition collected over 604,000 signatures, significantly more than the 200,000 necessary to suggest a future referendum on the matter. On 22 May 2023, Revival protesters stormed the EU offices in Sofia, dousing the interior with red paint while waving the Russian flag. President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola called the protestors "vandals unhappy with our stance in support of Ukraine." while the Bulgarian government announced the attacks only strengthen their resolve to support Ukraine. On 16 June 2023, a microbrewery in Sofia was vandalized after standoffs with Revival with an antisemitic message scrawled on their window with a Star of David after the brewery posted a sign saying they don't serve members of Revival. The owners of the brewery, who are Jewish, filed an investigation with the Ministry of Interior for the attack to be prosecuted as an antisemitic hate crime.
Opposition to Denkov-Gabriel Government (2023–2024)
Protest activity In mid-July 2023, members of We Continue the Change launched an official investigation into Revival for promoting violence, homophobia and "misanthropic propaganda." Namely, the prosecution cited a post on Revival's official telegram that consisted of the face of Solomon Passy, a former MP and founder of the Atlantic Club, as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp being taken away by the Schutzstaffel to be gassed with the caption, "If you don't want gas from Russia, come to us and we'll let you breathe some gas." In September 2023 Revival staged nationwide protests for the removal of all NATO bases in Bulgaria, waving Bulgarian and Russian national flags, blowing whistles and demanding an early election. The protests came shortly after the Bulgarian government ended an embargo on Ukrainian grain. During the protests Revival supporters rallied around a monument to the Red Army, which the government decided to remove. Additionally, the government deported one Russian and two Belarusian nationals connected to Revival on a recommendation by the State Agency for National Security.
Sofia City Councillors split Upon the entrance of Revival MPs into the Sofia City Council, the party did not participate in negotiations to end the deadlock and elect a chairman of the city council and refused to support other nominees. On 8 February, after three months of deadlock, 4 of the 7 Sofia city councillors from Revival voted in favour of Tsvetomir Petrov (PP-DB), who was selected as the compromise nominee after three-month long talks, subsequently being expelled both from the party and the councillors' group. The head of the Revival's group in the city council, Deyan Nikolov, accused the 4 city councillors of being "traitors" and alleged that they had been potentially bribed. The expelled city councillors defended their actions by claiming they had voted in favour of Petrov in order to end the deadlock. The split within the Revival group led to the de-listing of Revival as a group within the city council, due to it no longer being above the 5-member threshold. The aftermath of the events in the city council ended up impacting the parliamentary group of Revival in the National Assembly, wherein Kostadinov demanded the resignation of three Revival MPs who had "vouched" for the inclusion of the expelled city councillors during the local elections. After their refusal, the three were expelled from the parliamentary groups and served out their term as Independent MPs. Expelled MP and former PG secretary, Nikolay Drenchev, later alleged that despite claims by Kostadinov that the party was now calm, the situation in the party remained tense and even claimed the party was attending sessions with a licensed psychiatrist.
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