It Has Been 36 Years Since the Start of Bulgaria's Transition to Democracy

It has been 36 years since Bulgaria began its transition from totalitarian rule to democracy — the end of an ideology that claimed thousands of lives and deprived millions of their basic human rights. On 10 November 1989, during a plenary session of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, long-time leader, Todor Zhivkov, was removed from his post as General Secretary.

How did the change begin, and where are we now? Petko Simeonov — then deputy chairman of the Union of Democratic Forces, member of the Grand National Assembly, and a close associate of Zhelyu Zhelev — reflects on those days.

“I got on the tram, and everyone looked at each other and smiled slightly. No one spoke, but everyone knew what was happening. Sofia was charged with anticipation and silence,” recalls Simeonov.

Nothing was ever the same again. The streets filled with free people, openly declaring their break with the totalitarian state.

“The excitement was incredible — these were extraordinary emotions, an extraordinary moment,” he says.

After the first months of euphoria came sobering reality — a transition that, in many ways, still has not ended.

“The chaos, however, was extraordinary. We had no narrative for what we wanted to achieve. No one knew how to transition from totalitarian communism to democracy. Both the leaders and the voters — the people who followed them — we were all Bulgarian citizens. It is us who created Bulgaria as it is today.”

Thirty-six years later, Bulgaria has changed — and yet, in some ways, has not moved far enough.

“We still do not have a shared narrative for Bulgaria, for a new Bulgaria. We do not have that overarching goal that could unite the nation — it simply does not exist. I wanted democracy, I wanted a multi-party system, freedom of initiative. Freedoms — freedom must exist. But when there is freedom, there must also be responsibility. To live with it — that is the sense of being a citizen and the sense of belonging to a state.”

The steps backwards in understanding what democracy truly means and the erosion of its values have come at a cost. Simeonov believes it is time to speak about the future — a future in which freedom remains “at the tip of the spear,” a future without silence, and with people gathering in the public square.