A unique incident occurred in Sofia on 22 February when Bulgaria’s far-right Revival party incited protesters to attack the EU mission building during a demonstration against the country’s plans to join the eurozone. This situation is particularly alarming given that the Revival party holds three seats in the European Parliament and that the Patriots for Europe (PfE) vice president expressed support for the attackers.
The rise in violent incidents involving far-right parties, fuelled by claims of foreign interference—primarily from Russia and, more recently, from the Trump administration in the US—along with the widespread use of social media to disseminate disinformation, raises significant concerns for European governments and institutions.
Bulgaria’s new government, which was formed last month after October’s snap election—the seventh in four years—has reaffirmed its commitment to adopting the euro next year. However, the Bulgarian public remains divided on this issue, with many worrying that introducing the euro will lead to soaring prices.
The attack was instigated by the extremist Revival party, which EU taxpayers finance. The mob caused extensive damage to the offices of the European Parliament and the European Commission in Sofia. Several thousand supporters of the Revival party clashed with police while attempting to storm the EU mission building during the protest. The anti-government protesters chanted slogans such as “Resignation” and “No to the Euro,” and they threw red paint, firecrackers, and Molotov cocktails at the EU building, setting the front door on fire before police intervened. The government condemned the attack on EU buildings, stating that such actions “are unacceptable and contradict the principles of the rule of law.”
“Outrageous scenes in Sofia where our EU office has been vandalised. In Europe, we exercise the right to demonstrate in a peaceful way. Violence and vandalism are never the answer,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on X.
Revival: A national security threat to Bulgaria
Founded in 2014, the Revival party combines a strong Russophile stance with harsh anti-EU, anti-NATO, and anti-American rhetoric. Additionally, the party promotes anti-vaccine ideas and disseminates racist slogans against the Roma community and the LGBT population in Bulgaria.
In the last parliamentary elections on 27 October 2024, Revival secured third place, receiving 12.92% of the votes and winning 35 of the 240 seats in the Bulgarian National Assembly.
Revival has cultivated a close relationship with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Its leader, Kostadin Kostadinov, was invited to speak at AfD’s congress in July 2023, and representatives from AfD attended the annual commemoration of Liberation Day in Bulgaria in 2024.
Following the expulsion of AfD from Marine Le Pen‘s Identity and Democracy (ID) group, Kostadinov proposed the formation of a new far-right group after the June elections. The Revival party expressed its readiness to partner with AfD, according to an announcement by Kostadinov on 24 May.
Previously, in the European Parliament elections of June 2024, Revival garnered 13.98% of the votes and obtained three seats, sending Stanislav Stoyanov, Rada Laykova, and Petar Volgin to Brussels.
When AfD united far-right extremists in the European Parliament on 11 July 2024 to establish the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group, Revival was among the first to join. Although the new group is led by AfD and the Polish New Hope party, Revival obtained the presidency of the ESN party, with Stoyanov becoming its European president.
“… excellent news because now we will have the opportunity to create a real conservative and sovereignist group in the European Parliament,” Kostadinov wrote. “Vazrazhdane will definitely work together with AfD. We have already taken steps to create a new group in the EP, so today, we will offer the German party to get involved and move the process together. We will not allow the current ruling liberal-fascist regime to continue,” Kostadinov highlighted.
The Revival party has characterised preparations to join the eurozone as an “attempt against freedom,” accusing the central bank and the national statistics agency of “fabricating data” to facilitate the euro’s introduction.
Le Pen’s group flirt with extremists
Even though Le Pen excluded the members now belonging to the ESN from entering her new group, the Patriots for Europe, recently, PfE members flirted with the AfD and other ESN members.
So, Hermann Tertsch, MEP for the Spanish far-right Vox and vice-president of PfE, once more tried to bridge deferences between Le Pen’s group and the ESN.
Practically supporting the way the Revival’s extremists expressed their outrage at the replacement of the Bulgarian Lev with the Euro, Tertsch replied to von der Leyen’s declaration with a shameful post on X:
“No message for the victims of the murderers among illegal immigrants that YOU, with your party and socialists and communists, promote. No moral outrage for the killings provoked by your anti national open borders policy. But very angry because some Bulgarians have smeared some paint in the EU woke embassy.”
The European Parliament should act
Our Union is at a hazardous point. The target of hybrid attacks and disinformation by Russia and China, the EU recently experienced a widespread rise of parties that act as “agents” of the above powers, attack the founding principles of the Union and try to demolish the EU. In addition, new players, such as the US Donald Trump administration, support those parties, as US vice-president J.D. Vance‘s meeting with one of the AfD’s leaders proved.
The attack against the EU offices in Sofia is not a simple act of violence against buildings, and it is not an isolated incident. These parties constantly provoke and measure the EU’s tolerance. However, the EU does not have the luxury of allowing such forces to enjoy taxpayers’ money and impunity.
Thus, as MEP Sergey Lagodinsky correctly wrote on X: “Time to act: The party should be banned, the perpetrators must be prosecuted! (For now no procedure in Bulgaria against the violent criminals).”
The way Bulgarian authorities will act is crucial for Bulgarian democracy. Also, how the European Parliament will respond to Revival’s attack in Sofia and to the Patriots’ support will be critical. If impunity prevails, then the extremists will repeat and increase their violent actions, not only in Bulgaria and Germany but also in those EU countries. ESN and PfE have solid parties.
