This article gives an overview of liberalism and radicalism in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. It is limited to liberal and

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics * Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe an ...

parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it is not necessary that parties label themselves as a liberal party.

Background

Liberalism was a dominant political force at the end of the nineteenth century. The current got strongly divided.

History

After the restoration of democracy in 1990, some parties got a liberal character. Liberalism is now represented by the mainly Turkish minority party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (''Dviženie za prava i svobodi'', observer LI, member ELDR), the National Movement for Simeon II (''Nacionalno Dviženie Simeon Vtori'', member LI, ELDR) and Democratic Bulgaria (''Demokratichna Balgariya''), both taking a more or less liberal position.

From Liberal Party to Democratic Party

*1879: Liberal forces united in the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

(''Liberalna Partija'') *1884: A right-wing faction formed the ⇒ Progressive Liberal Party *1886: Another right-wing faction formed the ⇒ People's Liberal Party *1887: A third faction formed the ⇒ Radoslav Liberal Party *1896: The party is renamed into Democratic Party (''Demokratičeska Partija'') *1905: A radical faction seceded as the ⇒ Radical Democratic Party *1923: A faction joined the Democratic Alliance (''Demokratičeski Sgovor'') *1934: The party is banned by the dictatorship *1945: The party is revived *1947: The party is banned by the communist dictatorship *1989: The party is revived as a Christian conservative party

Progressive Liberal Party

*1884: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Liberal Party formed the

Progressive Liberal Party The Progressive Liberal Party ( abbreviated PLP) is a populist and social liberal party in the Bahamas. Philip Davis is the leader of the party. History The PLP was founded in 1953 by William Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson, and Henry Milton T ...

(''Progresivnoliberalna Partija'') *1920: The party merged into the

United People's Progressive Party The United People's Progressive Party ( bg, Обединена народно-прогресивна партия, ''Obedinena narodno-progresivna partiya'', ONPP) was a political party in Bulgaria. History The party was formed by a merger of the ...

(''Obedinena Narodnoprogresivna Partija'')

People's Liberal Party

*1886: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Liberal Party formed the People's Liberal Party (''Narodnoliberalna Partija'') *1920: The party merged into the ⇒ National Liberal Party

Radoslavist Liberal Party / National Liberal Party

*1887: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Liberal Party formed the Radoslav Liberal Party (''Liberalna-Radoslavistka Partija'') *1904: A right-wing faction seceded as the ⇒ Tonchevist Young Liberal Party *1920: The party merged with the ⇒ Tonchevist Young Liberal Party and the ⇒ People's Liberal Party into the National Liberal Party (''Nacionalliberalna Partija'') *1934: The party is banned by the dictatorship

Tonchevist Young Liberal Party

*1904: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Radoslav Liberal Party seceded as the Tonchevist Young Liberal Party (''Mladoliberalna Partija-Tončevisti'') *1920: The party merged into the ⇒ National Liberal Party

Radical (Democratic) Party

*1905: A radical faction of the ⇒ Democratic Party seceded as the Radical Democratic Party (''Radikaldemokratičeska Partija'') *1922: The party is renamed Radical Party (''Radikalna Partija'') *1923: A faction joined the Democratic Alliance (''Demokratičeski Sgovor'') *1934: The party is banned by the dictatorship *1945: The party is revived *1949: The party is banned by the communist dictatorship *1989: The party is refounded as the Radical Democratic Party (''Radikaldemokratičeska Partija'') *1990s: The party took part in various electoral alliances with decreasing success

Movement for Rights and Freedoms

*1990: Representatives of the Turkish minority formed the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (''Dviženie za Prava i Svobodi''), that develops in a more or less liberal direction

National Movement for Simeon II

*2001: Followers of the ex-king formed the personalist National Movement for Simeon II (''Nacionalno Dviženie Simeon Vtori''), that takes a more or less liberal position in the spectrum *2006:

GERB GERB ( bg, ГЕРБ, translation=coat of arms, acronym for Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) is a conservative, Populism, populist List of political parties in Bulgaria, political party which was the ruling party of Bulgaria betwee ...

split from NDSV, which adopted more conservative position than NDSV.

"Blue" Parties/Urban Right

*1989: Centre-right and conservative forces form the Union of Democratic Forces (SDS). *1997: SDS forms with minor parties such as ⇒ Democratic Party, National DPS (split from ⇒ DPS),

Union of Free Democrats The Union of Free Democrats ( bg, Съюз на свободните демократи, ''Sajuz na svobodnite demokrati'') is a conservative political party in Bulgaria, led by Stefan Sofiyanski. It contested the 2001 elections as part of the ...

(split from SDS) and ⇒ RDP the United Democratic Forces. *2005: The conservative-liberal

Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria ( bg, Демократи за силна България, ДСБ, Demokrati za Silna Balgariya, DSB) is a political party in Bulgaria established by former Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov (1997–2001). His ...

(''Демократи за силна България'') split from the conservative SDS. *2007: Mariya Kapon leaves ⇒ Democratic Party and forms the United People's Party (''Единна народна партия''). *2008:

Gospodin Tonev Gospodin Tonchev Tonev ( bg, Господин Тончев Тонев; 29 November 1955 – 5 September 2021) was a Bulgarian teacher, translator, and politician. He also lectured at seminars on the social market economy and the value foundation ...

leaves SDS and forms the

Bulgarian Democratic Community Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

(''Българска демократична общност''). *2009: The conservative SDS, DSB, the social democratic

Bulgarian Social Democratic Party The Bulgarian Social Democratic Party ( bg, Българска социалдемократическа партия, ''Balgarska Sotsialdemokraticheska Partiya'', BSDP) is a social democratic political party in Bulgaria. It was part of the Blue ...

, the agrarian

United Agrarians The United Agrarians ( bg, Обединени земеделци) are a political party in Bulgaria. The conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institut ...

and ⇒ Radical Democratic Party formed the centre-right

Blue Coalition The Blue Coalition ( bg, Синята коалиция, Sinyata koalitsia) was a centre-right electoral alliance in Bulgaria, whose members were the Union of Democratic Forces (SDS), Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) and three smaller partie ...

, leading to a series of centre-right coalitions which take a more or less liberal position in the spectrum. *2012:

Meglena Kuneva Meglena Shtilianova Kuneva ( bg, Меглена Щилиянова Кунева; born 22 June 1957) is a Bulgarian and EU politician. Biography Born in Sofia, Kuneva is descended from a Catholic family from the town of Rakovski. She graduat ...

leaves ⇒ NDSV and formed Bulgaria for Citizens Movement (''Движение „България на гражданите“''). *2012: Nadezhda Neynsky leaves SDS and formed Blue Unity (''Синьо единство''). *2014: BNG, DSB and SDS formed the Reformist Bloc. SE and ENP formed The Rights. *2014: Movement for European Unification and Solidarity (''Движение за европейско обединение и солидарност'') was formed and the Democratic Action Movement (''Движение „Демократично действие“'') split from SDS. *2015: DSB leaves the Reformist Bloc. *2017: Former Minister of Justice Hristo Ivanov formed

Yes, Bulgaria! Yes, Bulgaria! ( bg, Да, България!, translit=Da, Balgariya!), is a Bulgarian political party, founded in January 2017 by former Minister of Justice Hristo Ivanov. Yes, Bulgaria! is part of a coalition with Democrats for a Strong Bulga ...

(''Да, България!'') and joins forces with DEOS. DSB and BDO form the "New Republic". *2018: Blue Unity and DEOS dissolve. Coalition for you Bulgaria (''Коалиция за теб България'') was formed. *2018: DSB, the green-liberal

Green Movement Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It ...

and Yes, Bulgaria! form Democratic Bulgaria. *2019: ENP and DS form "Rise". *2021: ENP and DBG join

Stand Up! Mafia, Get Out! Stand Up.BG! We are coming! ( bg, Изправи се.БГ! Ние идваме!, Izpravi se.BG! Nie idvame!; IBG-NI), until 20 July 2021 known as Stand up! Mafia, Get Out! ( bg, Изправи се! Мутри вън!, Izpravi se! Mutri van!; IS ...

. KztB and BDO form "We, the Citizens". DS dissolves. Dignity of United People (''Достойнството на един народ'') split from DBG to join Democratic Bulgaria.

We Continue the Change

*2021: Kiril Petkov and

Asen Vasilev Asen Vaskov Vasilev ( bg, Асен Васков Василев; born 9 September 1977) is a Bulgarian politician, economist, and entrepreneur who is the current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance since 13 December 2021. He is the co-l ...

and formed We Continue the Change, that takes a more or less liberal position in the spectrum. *2022: We Continue the Change (''Продължаваме промяната'') became a party.

Liberal leaders

* Pre-communist period ** Democratic Party: Petko Karavelov - Aleksandar Malinov - Nikola Mushanov ** Progressive Liberal Party:

Dragan Tsankov Dragan Kiriakov Tsankov ( bg, Драган Киряков Цанков) (9 November 1828 – 24 March 1911) was a Bulgarian politician and the first Liberal Party Prime Minister of the country. He was born in Svishtov. Tsankov was initially ...

Stoyan Danev Stoyan Petrov Danev ( bg, Стоян Петров Данев) (28 January 1858, in Şumnu, Ottoman Empire (today Shumen) – 30 July 1949) was a leading Bulgarian liberal politician and twice Prime Minister. A legal graduate of both the Univ ...

** People's Liberal Party: Stefan Stambolov -

Dimitar Petkov Dimitar Nikolov Petkov () (2 November 1858, Tulcea – 11 March 1907, Sofia) was a leading member of the Bulgarian People's Liberal Party and the country's Prime Minister from 5 November 1906 until he was assassinated in Sofia the following ye ...

** Radoslavist Liberal Party: Vasil Radoslavov * Post-communist period * Zhelyu Zhelev -

Ahmed Dogan Ahmed Demir Dogan ( bg, Ахмед Демир Доган; born 29 March 1954), born Ahmed Ismailov Ahmedov (), is a Bulgarian oligarch and politician of Turkish ethnicity. He was chairman of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) from 1990 t ...

- Simeon Sakskoburggotski -

Ognyan Gerdzhikov Ognyan Stefanov Gerdzhikov ( bg, Огнян Стефанов Герджиков) (born 19 March 1946) is a Bulgarian politician and jurist who served as the interim Prime Minister from 27 January 2017 to 4 May 2017, following the resignation of Pri ...