'Radev’s Emergence Marks the End of Revival,' Former Minister Says

The possible emergence of a political project linked to Rumen Radev is not expected to alter Bulgaria’s geopolitical direction, according to analysts speaking on bTV. Sociologist Yuri Aslanov said there is no serious basis for fears that the country would move away from its established European course.

Further reading: NATO Pilot, Putin Sympathizer, or Something Else? Who Is Rumen Radev and Why Did He Just Blow Up Bulgarian Politics

Former energy minister Miroslav Sevlievski argued that Bulgarian society does not see radical Euroscepticism as a viable or attractive path. In his words, such positions are viewed as a dead end, and the question of the euro is already settled. “There is no going back,” he said, stressing that public attitudes have moved beyond that debate.

According to Sevlievski, if Radev enters party politics, the main dividing line will not be support for or opposition to the euro. Instead, the focus is more likely to fall on corruption and the fight against entrenched power structures. In this sense, Radev would try to position himself around issues of integrity and governance rather than monetary or integration questions.

Sociologist Dobromir Zhivkov raised the question of what will dominate the political agenda in the coming months. He asked whether polarization will deepen around the war in Ukraine or whether political actors will instead seek division or unity around anti-corruption themes, which he expects to gain increasing prominence.

Sevlievski went further, claiming that Radev’s political appearance would effectively spell the end of the nationalist party Revival  and its leader, Kostadin Kostadinov. In his assessment, Radev would absorb or neutralize the space currently occupied by that formation.

Aslanov said the creation of a new political entity would inevitably reconfigure the party system. According to him, it remains to be seen which existing players will fall out of relevance, which will survive, and how they will choose to position themselves in relation to a potential Radev-led project.

Zhivkov noted that there are still many unknowns, particularly regarding the behavior of the future opposition. He pointed out that figures such as Boyko Borissov and Delyan Peevski have traditionally maintained access to key levers of power, making it unclear how they would respond to a new political force built around a former president.

In a striking comparison, Sevlievski described Radev’s entry into active politics as a “November 10 moment” for GERB, suggesting a turning point similar in scale to the political shifts that followed the collapse of the communist regime.