Democratic Bulgaria ( bg, Демократична България, ДБ, ''Demokratichna Balgariya, DB'') is an

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political party, political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand ...

in Bulgaria formed by three political parties –

Yes, Bulgaria! Yes, Bulgaria! ( bg, Да, България!, translit=Da, Balgariya!), is a Bulgarian political party, founded in January 2017 by former Minister of Justice Hristo Ivanov. Yes, Bulgaria! is part of a coalition with Democrats for a Strong Bulga ...

Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria ( bg, Демократи за силна България, ДСБ, Demokrati za Silna Balgariya, DSB) is a political party in Bulgaria established by former Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov (1997–2001). His ...

and

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties * Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina * Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro *Greens of Serbia *G ...

. The union was created on 12 April 2018.

History

The creation of Democratic Bulgaria was officially announced through the symbolic signing of a declaration entitled "A Democratic Bulgaria Can Do More". The three parties united after several months of talks on cooperation during the next general election. In its manifesto, the union set out its main goals, including to be an alternative to the current government and to consolidate Bulgaria's democratic values and Euro-Atlantic choices.

Structure

The Democratic Bulgaria structure has two co-leaders – Hristo Ivanov of

and Atanas Atanasov of

. The leaders of The Greens – Vladislav Panev and Borislav Sandov – also participate in the union's council.

Composition

Political positions

Finance

Some of DB's priorities are Bulgaria's

Eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU policies ...

and

Banking union The banking union of the European Union is the transfer of responsibility for banking policy from the national to the EU level in several EU member states, initiated in 2012 as a response to the Eurozone crisis. The motivation for banking union w ...

membership, a reduction of budget spending to 1/3 of the

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

, as well as taxation reform, with a reduction of

VAT A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...

from 20% to 18% and a non-taxable minimum of the

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

Defense

In the sphere of defense, the party seeks public support of the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

using the Social contract of defensive politics.

Presidential endorsement

For the

2021 Bulgarian presidential election General elections were held in Bulgaria on 14 November 2021 to elect both the President of Bulgaria, President and the National Assembly (Bulgaria), National Assembly. They were the country's third parliamentary elections in 2021, with no party ...

, DB supported the election bid of

Lozan Panov Lozan Yordanov Panov ( Bulgarian: Лозан Панов) is a Bulgarian judge and the chairman of the Supreme Court. He ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2021 Bulgarian Presidential Election, with his election bid supported by Democratic Bu ...

, the chairman of the Bulgarian supreme court.

Election results

2019 European Parliament election

In order to select its candidates, Yes, Bulgaria! conducted a remote preliminary election. Those willing to

vote Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

could do it digitally using the

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

of Yes, Bulgaria! or by

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

. All members of Yes, Bulgaria! had the right to participate, together with everyone who received an invitation from a current party member. The electoral process began on 27 November 2018, and the final results were declared on 11 February 2019. A total of 5898 people voted, and the

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

with the most votes was Stefan Tafrov, a

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and former ambassador. The candidate of Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria for the European elections Svetoslav Malinov was selected through a resolution during the party's National Congress on 12 November 2018. Malinov has been a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

since 2009 as a member of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

. On February 22, 2019, The Greens announced their primary candidate for the elections – Albena Simeonova – an

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

and entrepreneur in the sphere of bio agriculture. She was elected through an online vote on the website of the party. Democratic Bulgaria eventually won one seat in the 2019 European Parliament election, which went to DSB member

Radan Kanev Radan Milenov Kanev ( bg, Радан Миленов Кънев) (born 30 September 1975) is a Bulgarian politician who was elected as a Member of the European Parliament from Bulgaria in the 2019 European Parliament election. He used to be one of ...

2019 Local elections

Local elections were held across Bulgaria on 27 October 2019, with Democratic Bulgaria failing to win a single mayoral contest, but far exceeding expectations in the capital Sofia, where they won 8 out of 25 districts, including most of the city center. The results were seen as a serious setback for the ruling party

GERB GERB ( bg, ГЕРБ, translation=coat of arms, acronym for Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) is a conservative, populist political party which was the ruling party of Bulgaria between 2009 and 2021. History GERB is headed by for ...

, which had until then maintained a strong hold on the capital, winning 23 out of 25 districts in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Electoral history

National Assembly

European Parliament

References

{{Bulgarian political parties Conservative parties in Bulgaria Conservative liberal parties Liberal parties in Bulgaria Political party alliances in Bulgaria