2024 year in review: Which are the events that Bulgarians assess as important, according to a Gallup survey

The immediate and tangible events that directly affect people's lives are what matter most to Bulgarians, according to a national survey conducted by "Gallup International Balkan" for Bulgarian National Television (BNT).

Respondents were asked to give their assessment for each of a set of key national and international events that marked the passing year of 2024 - what is important and what is not important to them personally.

Internal political controversies and divisions, which have dominated public debate, seem to take a back seat in the eyes of the public, while key international events are pushed further to the margins of public consciousness.

Respondents were asked to evaluate a range of significant national and international events that shaped 2024, stating whether these events were important to them personally. While the results do not constitute a formal ranking, the responses provide insight into what Bulgarians consider important.

Unsurprisingly, the devastating wildfires from the past summer ranked as the most important event, with 90.2% of respondents considering them personally significant. The immediate threat and its direct impacts placed the wildfires at the forefront of public concern.

Another major event that resonated positively with the public was Bulgaria's success at the Paris Olympics. A notable 79.2% of Bulgarians regarded the medals won by Bulgarian athletes as important.

One tenth (10.5%) consider them neither important nor unimportant, and there are few who do not see the medals won as important or cannot judge.

In the international sphere, the conflict in the Middle East was highlighted by 62.2% of respondents as an important issue, for one tenth the intense fighting in the Middle East is not important, and about 20% stand in the middle.

The Ukrainian offensive in Russia over the summer was considered significant by 55.1% of the public, though ranked lower compared to other events. Despite the conflict's proximity, it seems that Bulgarians are increasingly becoming accustomed to the ongoing stress of the ighting between Russia and Ukraine.

The U.S. elections, while receiving significant global attention, did not resonate as strongly with the Bulgarian public, with respondents nearly evenly divided—38.2% considered the elections important, while 34.3% did not.

However,the European Parliament elections, being part of both national political life and Bulgaria's membership of the Union, were rated as important by more than half of respondents (51%). About one-fifth rated the elections for representatives to the European Parliament as unimportant (20.4%) or neither important nor unimportant (22.8%).

Bulgaria's accession to Schengen by air and water ranked among the more important events for Bulgarians in the past year. 56.7% said that Bulgaria's partial admission to Schengen was important for them personally. 19.4% take a position in the middle and 17.9% do not recognise the event as important. Thus, it seems that, even if incomplete, the abolition of borders (with the exception of land borders) is recognised as a success and is seen as important in the everyday life of Bulgarians.

• Decided: Bulgaria is a full member of Schengen from 1 January 2025.

A national event that stood out was the election of a new patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, considered important by 57.5% of those surveyed. The election, though a religious matter, was perceived as a source of national unity and stability.

Without being deliberately ranked, but still significantly lower in the peculiar pecking order, are two events in the country's domestic political life that took over the public agenda during the year. The collapse of the so-called "assemblage" in Parliament was rated as important by a relative majority of 40.1% of all respondents. A quarter (26%) said it was not important to them and 23.6% chose the "neither, nor" option.

The split in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), on the other hand, is rated as important by 38% of Bulgarians surveyed and receives the fewest such responses of all the listed events. A third (32%) do not see the break-up of one of the main parties after the transition as important, while 23.1% take the rather neutral position "neither important nor not important".

The survey was conducted between September 28 and October 6, 2024, among 806 people, using face-to-face tablet interviews. The sample is representative of Bulgaria’s adult population, with a maximum standard deviation of ±3.5%.