Bulgarian MPs to Investigate George Soros’s Influence
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Bulgaria Launches Parliamentary Probe into George Soros Allegations
Table of Contents
By Svetoslav Todorov
Background: the Investigation
Bulgaria’s parliament voted on Wednesday to establish a commission to investigate alleged meddling by NGOs and companies affiliated to the liberal American-Hungarian investor and philanthropist George Soros and his son Alexander. The move was initiated by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, a political vehicle for the oligarch and MP Delyan Peevski, and supported by the nationalist parties There’s Such a People and union, Moral and Honor, and also by the pro-Kremlin forces Revival and the Bulgarian socialist Party. members of the governing party GERB largely abstained or voted against the initiative.
the Role of Delyan Peevski and Anti-Soros Rhetoric
Despite presenting a pro-Western image, Peevski has been leveraging populist anti-Soros conspiracy theories to discredit political opponents and media outlets critical of his influence. This rhetoric mirrors patterns observed in other Eastern and Central European countries, where pro-Russian propaganda groups frequently employ similar narratives. The targeting of Soros is not new; it echoes the tactics used in Hungary, which led to the Soros-backed central European University relocating from Budapest to Vienna following a legal campaign by Viktor Orban’s government.
Last September, peevski publicly accused Soros-affiliated entities of promoting “gender ideology” and operating “powerful lobbyist structures.” Thes claims are part of a broader effort to delegitimize organizations supported by Soros and to portray them as undermining conventional Bulgarian values.
Commission Objectives and Scope
The parliamentary commission’s stated goal is to map Soros’s “connections with political parties, magistrates, educational institutions, media, business structures and state authorities.” While an initial proposal by Revival to specifically investigate NGOs like Open Society, America for Bulgaria, and several German foundations (Friedrich Ebert, Hanns Seidel, and Konrad Adenauer) was not accepted, the commission’s broad mandate allows for potential scrutiny of these organizations in the future.