The event at De Balie was organized around the idea of presenting the political situation in Bulgaria after the return of the ex-king Simeon II and the parliamentary elections June of 2001, when the newly born King’s movement won the majority of votes.

The King’s party “National Movement Simeon II” NDSV was represented by MP Daniel Vachev, chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Policy and European Integration Policy. UDF’s point of view was represented by MP Nikolaj Mladenov, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Policy and Integration Policy. Both are from the young generation of politicians in Bulgaria. The third invited guest was Ivan Krastev - a prominent political scientist, director of the Center for Liberal Strategies.

Daniel Valchev said that the new majority wants to keep the same direction – transition and developing of the democracy, direction toward EU, NATO…” to keep the direction and only to change the driver”.

Nikolaj Mladenov (UDF) made the point that “ If Bulgaria is really like a car moving to the same direction, we should consider not only the capacity of the car and the destination, but also the role of the driver. We should ask does the driver have a driving license?” which seemed a relevant question to Mr. Mladenov from the opposition.

Ivan Krastev explained the hopes that brought the King’s movement to power. Krastev pointed out the existing problem of lack of moral and religious discourse and said that somehow the gap left by the absence of the Church had been filled in by the King’s movement. “The coalition of so many hopes has brought the King’s movement to power. But we could see quite different dimensions of this hope. It seems like a crystal glass where everyone puts his wine. The biggest problem is the fact that during the governing of the country the support for the reforms will decline. The problem is that it is not clear what part of people could be real supporter of the ex-king’s policy. It will be not clear who are the people ready to suffer for the policy of the new majority. The real problem is that even if Bulgaria is not changing the direction the “car” is going in, people do not want to be anymore in that car. People are tired. They want to take a bus. There will be a real problem with a new-born political tiredness”.

The moderator of the debate Arjen Berkvens, who is a coordinator of the Alfred Mozer Foundation, asked what the speakers see as the three main priorities/goals for Bulgaria.

Some part of the discussion was about the process of accession and the internal Bulgarian debate on it. Is Bulgaria ready for accession? Does it have a clear viewpoint? Are there changes after the parliamentary elections?

The audience also posed questions about the presidential elections.

Representatives of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MATRA program, the University of Amsterdam, journalists, people from NGOs working with Bulgaria, many Bulgarians who live or study in Netherlands were among the audience.

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