Bulgaria seeks to protect itself from russian interference in elections
The Bulgarian authorities have announced the involvement of Bellingcat investigator Hristo Grozev in the work of a newly established mechanism for countering hybrid threats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The decision was made ahead of the early parliamentary elections on April 19 to ensure a comprehensive institutional response to foreign interference and manipulation.
▫️ The scale of russian information pressure on Bulgaria is unprecedented. The Center for the Study of Democracy has identified a coordinated network “Pravda” (Portal Kombat), which generates up to 6,000 manipulative articles in Bulgarian each month. More than 30 affiliated Telegram channels have accumulated approximately 180 million views over the past year.
▫️ The Center for Countering Disinformation has also identified typical narratives circulating in the Bulgarian information space. These include intimidation over alleged “interference by Ukrainian intelligence services,” accusations that the European Union is “acting through Ukraine” against Bulgaria, attempts to undermine trust in the electoral process, and the discrediting of pro-European politicians. This reflects a standard kremlin toolkit aimed at demobilizing voters and delegitimizing the country’s pro-Western course.
Taking into account the experience of Moldova and Romania, where similar technologies were already used by the kremlin ahead of elections, Bulgaria has activated the EU Rapid Alert System to monitor disinformation campaigns in real time.
