democracy in europe as its currently practiced. its cousin is 'our' variation with its equally baffling games designed to throw it all out of wack; 

 

Though the Hungarian election is only a week away, another threat is already manifesting for the EU’s elite: This time in Bulgaria, where left-wing populist and former President Rumen Radev wants to shut off the money tap to Ukraine, and his opponents want Brussels’ censorship machine to save them. Here we go again.

On April 19, Bulgarians will vote in the country’s eighth parliamentary election in five years. Called after the resignation of Rosen Zhelyazkov following street protests in November, the election pits centrist Boyko Borissov – a former prime minister – and his pro-EU GERB-SDS coalition against the emerging left-leaning Progressive Bulgaria coalition, headed by Radev. […]

Despite the EU and Sofia possessing the means, motive, and opportunity to contest a win by Radev, the situation may not arise. Progressive Bulgaria is currently polling at around 31%, comfortably above GERB-SDS’ 21%, but not enough for an outright majority. This suggests that the April 19 vote may lead to another fragmented parliament, with Radev either forced to dilute his positions to build a coalition, or stymied until another election is called.

Regardless, the fact that the EU has already intervened in four elections since 2024, and has its thumb on the scales of another two at present, suggests that Brussels takes the populist threat to its authority seriously. It is becoming clear that the European Commission will invoke the specter of Russian interference any time a dissenting voice arises, whether on the left, like Radev, or the right, like Orban...........more............

Brussels wields a toolbox full of hammers, and to the EU bureaucracy, every problem looks like a nail. With the bloc’s economy reeling and almost every pro-Brussels government under water in the approval tables, the question that will be answered in Hungary and Bulgaria, and in every EU election to come, is for how long the Brussels bureaucracy can keep forcing its will onto voters who clearly want an alternative.