EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion
In the photo: Prime Minister Boyko Borissov with Hans-Gert Pöttering, a CDU politician in Germany and chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation from 2010 to 2017.
In the Bulgarian media space, opinions on the development of Bulgaria are often found made by the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation [named after the first Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Germany Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967)]. In addition to being an ambassador of European democratic morals and ideals, the foundation is also a ' valuable partner' of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian government, in the words of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. The organization, which is close to the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Germany, established its office in Sofia in 1994 and has since then cooperated with right-wing parties in Bulgaria, taking positions on domestic and foreign policy issues.
Over the past ten years, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation has deepened its working relations with both the ruling group of GERB and the party's supporting structures, such as the GERB youth organization and GERB Women. Several times over the years, prominent ministers and diplomats of the ruling party have been invited to working meetings at the foundation's headquarters in Sofia and Berlin. For other members of the GERB ranks, the German partner organizes seminars and trainings. From Borisov's address to the foundation, delivered within the framework of the GERB party congress in January 2019, it is understood that it is also an important financial sponsor of the ruling party in Bulgaria, 'thanks to which GERB is financially independent and can invite external speakers'.
One of the most discussed topics between prominent representatives of the Konrad Adenauer and GERB is the topic of corruption and the rule of law. For example, Bulgarian Vice-President Ekaterina Zaharieva was invited to a working meeting in late May 2017 in Berlin, where she was welcomed by Hans-Gert Pöttering, a CDU politician, former President of the European Parliament and Chairman of the Foundation from 2010 to 2017. The two discussed coalition relations after the Bulgarian parliamentary elections in 2017. Pöttering committed to supporting his Bulgarian partners in pursuing pro-European policies and strengthening the rule of law.
In 2018, Zaharieva again went to Berlin to visit the office of the foundation, this time for a conversation with the new chairman of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation - Prof. Lammert, from the ranks of the CDU, former chairman of the German Bundestag. The occasion for the conversation was the Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU. During the conversation, in addition to admiration for the organization and conduct of the presidency, Zaharieva also received promises of future cooperation between the foundation and institutions in Bulgaria with a view to strengthening democracy and preventing fake news.
A year later, on the 25th anniversary of the foundation in Bulgaria, in front of government and parliamentary representatives, the Vice-President of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Head of its International Department, Dr. Gerhard Wallers, expressed highly commendable words about Bulgaria's progress, defining it as a strong European ally and an exemplary country for Eastern Europe, due to its economic growth, low unemployment rate and foreign debt. For his part, the Bulgarian Prime Minister committed himself to continuing the work on Bulgaria's economic and social development.
All these praises for Bulgarian development, however, seem paradoxical, considering the facts about Bulgaria's progress in aspects such as the rule of law, corruption, media freedom, quality of education, etc. The country has cemented its last place (among EU members) in indices of well-being, media freedom, and quality of education, but is among the first in categories such as perception of corruption, inconsistency of national legislation with European legislation, environmental pollution, and others.
The organization itself defines in its reports the country's efforts in implementing anti-corruption strategies as insufficient and superficial. In 2018, for example, in a radio broadcast, Torsten Geisler, the head of the Bulgarian office of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, did not hide that the foundation is aware of the problem of corruption in Bulgaria and pointed out that many of the organization's resources are spent on analyzing this topic.
Bulgarian society should ask itself how the investments and efforts of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation to promote democratic ideals in Bulgaria and its partnership with GERB are materializing and how they add value to the country? The answer is unclear.
Although GERB has been strongly supported by the German foundation in the last few years, as became clear above (not only through speeches, but also through joint seminars, workshops, etc.), their governance seems less and less democratic against the backdrop of the protests of many thousands against the Borisov 3 cabinet in the summer of 2020. The protests demanding the resignation of the government were unleashed by the blatant violation of Bulgarian legislation by civil servants and continued for months due to the accumulated dissatisfaction of the population on issues such as the inappropriate use of EU funds, lack of expertise of the governing cadres, the postponement of legal and regulatory reforms, and the open disrespect of the governing authorities towards the protesters.
Instead of resignation and elections for a new parliament (at a time when the circulation of the new coronavirus was relatively smaller compared to the first months of 2021, when regular parliamentary elections are scheduled), the cabinet's response to the protesters was a surprising, short-term, intra-party and single-party development of a new constitution. Under all laws of democratic governance, amendments to the basic law aim to resolve a pressing problem of fundamental importance and are introduced and voted on through broad and prolonged public and expert discussion. GERB, however, sees amendments to the constitution not as a solution to current normative problems, but as a tool for remaining in power and is approaching the ripe political crisis in an extremely undemocratic manner.
The interesting thing in this case is that this dubious move by the ruling party (and others like it) is not commented on by their long-standing 'valuable' partners from the Adenauer Foundation. The Foundation has maintained a particular neutrality and silence during the summer months of 2020, and it should not have. Since it has taken the initiative to cooperate with the ruling party, it bears, albeit indirect and incomplete, partial responsibility for GERB's understanding and implementation of democratic governance, as it is the Foundation that sponsors the party for additional training and offers consultations on the implementation of pro-European policies in Bulgaria, according to Pöttering.
A new scandal involving the foundation erupted in February 2021. After months of work by young independent authors to compile a collection of analyses of the most current political and economic topics in 2020 and the corresponding perspectives for 2021, Adenauer surprisingly withdrew its support from the project just before it was time to publish it. In the fall of 2020, the foundation financed the entire project, but in the winter of 2021 it did not want to publish it, as some of the articles in the collection contained criticism of the management of the socio-economic crisis in Bulgaria over the past year.
The time for empty talk and ineffective programs related to the country's development is long over. Instead of pompous workshops and statements of cooperation, the expectations (should) be for visible progress. The role of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, which it has imposed on itself, is not to consolidate the power of the rulers, but to help build a more liberal and democratic society. A goal from which it seems to be moving away over the years. In order to restore its good reputation, the foundation should take stock of its work in the country and rethink its partnerships.
