Indicator history

ATAKA is probably the most popular nationalistic party in Bulgaria. In 2005 elections it campaigned under the slogan "Let's Give Bulgaria back to Bulgarians." It won the backing of 300,000 people, becoming the fourth largest party. ATAKA’s head Volen Siderov was widely known for his xenophobic statements. In 2011, he was convicted by court for making discriminatory remarks. Among ATAKA’s most popular campaigns was the ban on state-television broadcasts of Turkish-language news, protests against the speakers of the mosque in Sofia, etc.

Nationalist emotions are also connected with the re-establishment of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO) in the 1990s. Before the First World War and between the two world wars the organization was internationally known as an incorporation of militant Bulgarian nationalist ideology and politics. However, despite its influence among some groups of the Bulgarian youth, the party is not a stable and influential political force. Its supporters, however, have been participating in the collision with the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Burgas, in the protests supporting the people of Katunitsa, and other major nationalistic events.