Revival (Bulgarian political party)

Revival (Възраждане) is a far-right and ultranationalist political party in Bulgaria, founded in August 2014. Its chairman is Kostadin Kostadinov. The party is defined by various analysts and media as pro-Russian, anti-EU, anti-NATO, anti-American, being opposed to COVID-19 vaccinations and spreading anti-vaccine and anti-LGBT  rhetoric.

History
In June 2014, Kostadin Kostadinov told media that there would be a Constituent Assembly on 2 August of the same year in the city of Pliska to create the party "Revival". The founders choose the day that is the celebrated anniversary of the Ilinden Uprising. Kostadinov founded the party after he became unhappy following Krasimir Karakachanov's reelection as leader of IMRO-BNM in 2012.

Entrance into parliament
The party has grown rapidly due to the 2021–present Bulgarian political crisis. They first entered the Bulgarian National Assembly after the 2021 general election, gaining 13 seats. A member of Revival's parliamentary group left them in June 2022. The party would more than double its presence in the assembly, gaining 14 more seats in the 2022 general election and gained another 10 seats in the 2023 general election bringing their total seats to 37. This comes as the country draws closer to its adoption of the Euro while the government is financially backing Ukraine in their defense against Russia. Only 30% of Bulgarians view Russia as a threat, and far more are worried about rising inflation and possible economic concerns with the adoption of the Euro. Despite the party's pro-Russian rhetoric, observer Vesela Tcherneva, from the European Council on Foreign Relations, says that "Putin has lost some popularity so the campaign is not pro-Russia but anti-West, but it's the other side of the same coin". Additionally, the party has called for a public referendum on withdrawal from NATO and "normalization" of relations with Russia. The party has also supported the expansion of the Russia gas company Lukoil's presence in the country and to "renegotiate the conditions with the EU" either for a special status, or possible withdrawal.

Additionally, the party launched a petition that proposes postponing the adoption of the Euro until further notice. The petition collected over 604,000 signatures, significantly more than the 200,000 necessary to suggest a future referendum on the matter.

On 22 May 2023, Revival protesters stormed the EU offices in Sofia, dousing the interior with red paint while waving the Russian flag. President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola called the protestors "vandals unhappy with our stance in support of Ukraine." while the Bulgarian government announced the attacks only strengthen their resolve to support Ukraine. On 16 June 2023, a microbrewery in Sofia was vandalized after standoffs with Revival with an antisemitic message scrawled on their window with a Star of David after the brewery posted a sign saying they don't serve members of Revival. The owners of the brewery, who are Jewish, filed an investigation with the Ministry of Interior for the attack to be prosecuted as an antisemitic hate-crime.

Protest Activity
In mid-July 2023, members of We Continue the Change launched an official investigation into Revival for promoting violence, homophobia and "misanthropic propaganda." Namely, the prosecution cited a post on Revival's official telegram that consisted of the face of Solomon Passy, a former MP and founder of the Atlantic Club, as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp being taken away by the Schutzstaffel to be gassed with the caption "If you don't want gas from Russia, come to us and we'll let you breathe some gas." In September 2023 Revival staged nationwide protests for the removal of all NATO bases in Bulgaria, waving Bulgarian and Russian national flags, blowing whistles and demanding an early election. The protests came shortly after the Bulgarian government ended an embargo on Ukrainian grain. During the protests Revival supporters rallied around a monument to the Red Army which the government decided to remove. Additionally, the government deported one Russian and two Belarusian nationals connected to Revival on a recommendation by the State Agency for National Security.

Sofia City Councillors split
Upon the entrance of Revival MPs into the Sofia City Council, the party did not participate in negotiations to end the deadlock and elect a chairman of the city council and refused to support other nominees.

On 8 February, after three months of deadlock, 4 of the 7 Sofia city councillors from Revival voted in favour of Tsvetomir Petrov (PP-DB), who was selected as the compromise nominee after three-month long talks, subsequently being expelled both from the party and the councillors' group. The head of the Revival's group in the city council, Deyan Nikolov, accused the 4 city councillors of being "traitors" and alleged that they had been potentially bribed. The expelled city councillors defended their actions by claiming they had voted in favour of Petrov in order to end the deadlock. The split within the Revival group led to the de-listing of Revival as a group within the city council, due to it no longer being above the 5-member threshold.

The aftermath of the events in the city council ended up impacting the parliamentary group of Revival in the National Assembly, wherein Kostadinov demanded the resignation of three Revival MPs who had "vouched" for the inclusion of the expelled city councillors during the local elections. After their refusal, the three were expelled from the parliamentary groups and served out their term as Independent MPs. Expelled MP and former PG secretary, Nikolay Drenchev, later alleged that despite claims by Kostadinov that the party was now calm, the situation in the party remained tense and even claimed the party was attending sessions with a licensed psychiatrist.

Visit to Moscow
On 19 February, three Revival MPs visited Moscow at the invitation of the ruling party, United Russia, meeting with members of the State Duma and representatives of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The visit led the PP-DB parliamentary group to request that the MPs who participated in the visit be excluded from committees with significance for "national security". Additionally, the PP-DB MP, Yavor Bozhankov, sent a signal to the Prosecutors Office and DANS about potential illegal activity on the part of the three MPs. In response, Revival leader Kostadinov claimed the procedure for the expulsion of MPs from a committee did not exist within the rulebook and insisted that the MPs will continue to attend the committee meetings.

On 28 February, the point about the exclusion of two Revival MPs from the Foreign Affairs and Defense parliamentary committees was presented before the parliament by PP-DB, however, the measure was not supported due to the opposition of the other parliamentary parties.

International relations
Revival was a member of the Identity and Democracy Party since 31 January 2024.

It has since been removed from the Identity and Democracy Party Web Portal - it can be seen present as of February 27th but is no longer present in the list of parties. The portal's news announcement of Revival joining has also been removed.

The party has developed a close relationship with the party Alternative for Germany, with Revival's chairman, Kostadin Kostadinov, attending the party's congress in July 2023. Revival additionally invited representatives from AfD, as well as the Moldovan party Revival to the annual commemoration of Liberation Day in 2024.

Revival also signed an official memorandum for cooperation "against the destruction of European civilisation" on the 23 August, which was also signed by representatives from the following parties: the Hungarian Our Homeland Movement, the Dutch Forum for Democracy (FvD), the Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), Alternative for Sweden (AfS) and the Swiss Mass Voll.

In December 2023, Revival participated in a conference in Belgrade hosted by the Serbian Party Oathkeepers and Dveri, alongside the AfD and the Our Homeland Movement.

Revival has maintained cooperation with the Russian ruling party, United Russia, participating in the Forum "Freedom of Nations" hosted by UR. Kostadinov, the party's Chairman, has also claimed that Revival have "begun friendly relations" with the African National Congress.

On 12 April 2024, Revival organized the 'Sofia Declaration' with the Slovak Republic, FvD, the Swiss Mass Voll, the Serbian Party Oathkeepers, Our Homeland Movement, AfS, the Moldovan Revival party and the Agricultural Livestock Party of Greece.

The party has maintained relations with the Republicans for National Renewal, a donor organisation linked with the United States Republican Party, including a meeting between the head of the organisation, Mark Ivanyo, and Kostadin Kostadinov in November 2023. In 2024, the party also had meetings with Republican Congressman Paul Gosar and officials from the 2024 Donald Trump presidential campaign.

The party has relations with the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), attending AUR conferences and campaigning jointly against restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The party considers North Macedonia as the second Bulgarian state in the Balkans and claims to be working towards the country's unification with Bulgaria. It regards the "complete unification with Macedonia and the revival and strengthening of the full state independence of a united Bulgaria" as the ultimate goal of its foreign policy.

As of 10 July 2024, Revival is a member of Europe of Sovereign Nations in the European Parliament, alongside the AfD, SPD, Our Homeland Movement, Republic, Lithuanian People and Justice Union, French Reconquête and Polish New Hope.

Leadership

 * Kostadin Kostadinov – Chairman
 * Velislav Hristov – Vice chairman
 * Petar Petrov – Vice chairman
 * Tsoncho Ganev – Vice chairman
 * Iskra Mihailova – Secretary