The votes of Bulgarian MEPs in the European Parliament demonstrated the limitations to the idea of Europeanization, understood as increasingly taking stances aligned with the other European parties as a result of a convergence on a shared European identity superseding national ideational and interest-based attachments. Bulgarian parties in the EP, in general, followed the directions of their domestic party. However, a significant disparity is present between the work of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) at home and in Strasburg. Despite the honorary party chairman’s open espousal of Russian positions and the party’s alleged ties to Russian groups and interests, MRF MEP’s have voted uniformly and consistently in favor of Kremlin-critical positions.
Read the full English-language analysis, which also touches upon the recent discussions on the state of the rule of law in Sofia, by our Bulgarian partners, the Center for the Study of Democracy here.
