The world according to Siderov: the rise of the far-right celebrity politician in Bulgaria

ABSTRACT

This article examines Bulgarian politician Volen Siderov’s rise through a career in journalism during communism, into the voice of the opposition during the post-commumist transition, and into the physical embodiment of a particularly virulent strand of far-right rhetoric in the Balkans. Through an analysis of Siderov’ continuing strategic use of media stunts, personal dares and orchestrated political confrontations, I argue that Siderov’s skilful use of populist strategies, dramatic media presence and charismatic engagement – all the while remaining ideologically ambiguous and flip-flopping – allowed him to elevate his status from that of a novice politician to a full-blown celebrity, skilfully blending the two into a most natural symbiosis.

KEYWORDS:

• Siderov
• Bulgaria
• celebrity
• populism
• post-communism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. For more on the incident, see http://www.osce.org/fom/103387.

2. The news portal contains live stream of the Alfa TV network as well as archived issues of the Ataka show. A sampling of titles includes ‘When you pump gas from Shell, remember, it also sponsored Hitler’; ‘The Holy Spirit and Contemporary Civilisation’, among others. For a view of the portal, visit https://www.ataka.tv.

3. For more on Siderov’s journalistic career, see http://www.novinite.com/elections2009/leaders.php?id=7#sthash.8mHRl0eZ.dpuf.

4. https://sofiaglobe.com/2018/10/16/mouthpiece-tv-channel-of-volen-siderovs-ataka-party-stops-broadcasting/.

5. For more on the Ukrainian Church call for separation, see https://www.rferl.org/a/broken-faith-ukrainian-church-fights-for-independence-from-moscow/29530334.html.

6. Gemini, one of Bulgarian most prominent LGBT organisation, took Siderov to court on the occasion of Siderov’s inflammatory and hateful statements such as ‘…finally, Bulgarians will have their own representatives in the parliament. There won’t be any more fags, gypsies, foreigners, Jews and all other sorts of scum, but only Bulgarians!’ For more on the story, see http://www.segabg.com/article.php?issueid=2488&sectionid=2&id=0000401.

7. For more on the story, please see http://www.trud.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=5070205.

8. See: http://www.razkritia.com/472987.

9. See: http://www.razkritia.com/484740/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elza Ibroscheva

Elza Ibroscheva is Associate Provost and Professor of Mass Communications at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She has published more than 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals and is author of Advertising and Post-Socialism: Women, Media and Femininity in the Balkans, and co-editor of Women, Politics and Media: Perspectives from Nations in Transition.