Bulgaria and its connections with Russia & Corruption.

Bulgaria has a long and fraught history as a country where corruption has thrived for many years. According to an article in Forbes, Bulgaria is one of the only members of the EU that has not imposed sanctions on the  Russian Federation as a state and on Russian individuals. Even Hungary, led by Viktor Orban, has imposed sanctions on Russia. Bulgaria’s lack of movement on sanctions is mainly because the government has close links to Russia at a governmental level and with the oligarchs.  According to a report by the European Council on Foreign Relations, one of the main reasons for such a high level of influence is because of an attempted political coup by Russia in 2016.  While the coup failed, like it did in Montenegro, it showed that Bulgarian society faces a massive challenge in eradicating Russian influence.