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Quarterly Theme: New EU Members Bulgaria and Romania
Since the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union on 1 January 2007 the EU consists of 27 members. In the section Quarterly theme three inside articles from partners in these new member countries are published. Read more for articles on the rise of populism in the new EU member countries, the mood in Bulgaria just after the accession, and the elections for the European Parliament in Romania.
One of the most important political opportunities related to Romania’s accession to European Union is the task of organising the elections for choosing Romania’s future European Parliament representatives.
Political populism is on the rise. Traditional divisions between left-wing and right-wing parties grow increasingly blurred, and in their stead the division between the people and the political elites becomes ever more important for the understanding of political dynamics. These processes are particularly visible in some of the new Eastern European member states, like Bulgaria, Poland, and Slovakia, where the parties born in the first ten years of the transition period gradually give way to new-comers, who put personal charisma, nationalistic vigour, and anti-corruption rhetoric in the place of traditional party programmes and ideologies. Is this development dangerous, and if so, which aspects of liberal democracy will be most affected by it?
The mood, in which many Bulgarians found themselves on 1 January 2007, was a bit peculiar. This date marked Bulgaria’s accession to the EU, a goal which its citizens pursued enthusiastically for more than a decade, and this gave ample reasons for celebration.
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