90 505
GLOBSEC Policy Institute,
GLOBSEC Trends 2017: Mixed Messages and Signs of Hope from Central and Eastern Europe, at 20 (Jan. 8, 2017).
506
Ibid. at 17.
507
Ibid. 508
U.S. Department of State, Background Information on Bulgaria provided to Committee Staff, Feb. 9, 2017.
509
The Kremlin Playbook, at 46. Stanley Reed & James Kanter, ‘‘Putin’s Surprise Call to Scrap South Stream Gas Pipeline Leaves Europe Reeling
The New York Times, Dec. 2, 2014; Radislov Dikov, Bulgaria Becomes Part of Southern Gas Infrastructure,
Radio Bulgaria, Mar. 21, 2015. Ivan Krastev, ‘‘Britain’s Gain is Eastern Europe’s Brain Drain
The Guardian, Mar. 24,
2015. John R. Haines, The Suffocating Symbiosis Russia Seeks Trojan Horses Inside Fractious
Bulgaria’s Political Corral
Foreign Policy Research Institute, Aug. 5, 2016. Bulgarian public opinion polls clearly reflect an affinity for Russia. In its recent Trends 2017 Survey, the think tank GLOBSEC found that 70 percent of Bulgarians had a favorable opinion of Vladimir Putin, the highest of any EU country.
505
Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004, but public support for the Alliance is tepid. When asked about Article 5 of the NATO charter—which considers an attack on one member as an attack on all—less than half of Bulgarian respondents said that they would support coming to the aid of a NATO ally under attack.
506
A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS), a US.
think tank, has characterized Russia’s outsized role in the Bulgarian economy as bordering on state capture and asserts that the Kremlin uses a complex and opaque network of colluding officials within the governing apparatus and business community to advance its interests.
507
Nowhere is Russian government dominance more apparent than in the energy sector. Bulgaria is almost completely dependent on Russia for oil and natural gas percent of Bulgaria’s natural gas is imported from Russia and the country completely depends on Moscow to supply nuclear fuel for its two reactors, which generate 35 percent of the country’s electricity.
508
The CSIS report also argues that Moscow’s ability to influence the policy making process in Bulgaria is considerable. During debate on the South Stream pipeline in the Bulgarian parliament, MPs introduced amendments which would have circumvented EU energy law. Gazprom also reportedly sent an official letter to the Bulgarian Energy Holding company, which provided advice on changes to the Bulgarian energy law in Gazprom’s inter- ests.
509
Russia canceled the Gazprom-led South Stream project in 2014 after it attracted significant pushback from other countries, which in turn enabled Bulgaria to support the EU-backed Southern Gas
Corridor.
510
Societal challenges also create openings for Russian influence. Bulgaria is one of the poorest countries in Europe—it has experienced slow economic growth and many of its young people are leaving for Western Europe.
511
The population is aging and likely more inclined towards nostalgia for Bulgaria’s warm relations with Moscow during the Cold War. The migrant crisis also provides an opening for anti-Europe propaganda, one that political parties like
Ataka have been eager to exploit. In 2014, its leader warned that, Bulgaria was melting
away without a war as abortion, emigration, homosexuality, and permanent economic crisis destroyed the population.’’
512
The Russian government, through the Russkiy Mir
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91 513
Ibid. The Foundation is a joint project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Science, and has a stated purpose of promoting the Russian language, as Russia s national heritage and a significant aspect of Russian and world culture, and supporting Russian language teaching programs
abroad Russkiy Mir Foundation, About Russkiy Mir Foundation https://russkiymir.ru/en/fund/index.php (visited Dec. 31, 2017).
514
See Russkiy Mir Foundation, Russian Centers of the Russkiy Mir Foundation https:// russkiymir.ru/en/rucenter (visited Dec. 31, 2017). Parkinson & Katchev, Document Russia Uses Rigged Polls, Fake News to Sway Foreign Elections
The Wall Street Journal, Mar. 23, 2017. Joe Parkinson & Georgi Kantchev, Document Russia Uses Rigged Polls, Fake News to Sway Foreign Elections
The Wall Street Journal, Mar. 23, 2017.
517
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