Propaganda in Bulgaria: Made in Russia or Home-grown?
Propaganda in Bulgaria: Made in Russia or Home-grown?

Summary/Abstract: This paper discusses the main tenets of how Bulgaria was represented in what can be coined as ‘Russian propaganda’ and how the dynamics of this process functioned in the period from 2013 to 2016. First, it will provide a discussion outlining the general framework and illustrate some discourses that appeared in Russian media outlets concerning Bulgaria. Secondly, it will focus on how Russian propaganda operated in relation to Bulgaria’s presidential elections in the autumn of 2016. The latter case study is important as an empirical study since the ultimate winner of the election, Rumen Radev, was largely portrayed in both international and domestic media as being a ‘pro-Russian’ candidate. Such media portrayals of the Bulgarian presidential elections can be seen as consistent with similar depictions of other electoral contests in Europe and the United States over the past years in which Russian propaganda, social media trolls and bots, fake news have supposedly come to play a role in promoting politicians or political parties that are perceived to be ‘pro-Russian’. This paper will qualify such simplistic dichotomies and attempt to bring some nuance to the question of what constitutes ‘Russian propaganda’. In contrast to widespread assumptions following the logic of the so called ‘information’ or ‘hybrid’ war, it argues that what is generally regarded as ‘Russian propaganda’ in Bulgaria tends to be a ‘home-grown’ phenomenon rather than a foreign directed or steered influence.

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