A Country That Achieved the Impossible — but Pays the Price in Trust

For nearly three decades, Bulgaria has lived under one of the strictest economic disciplines in Europe.
No independent monetary policy.
No option to print money.
No devaluation escape route.

A hard currency board that locked the nation’s hands behind its back and forced discipline even when politicians felt weak.

This created:

• low public debt

• low private debt

• stable banks

• and a tech sector rising from Bulgaria’s old engineering heritage

Economists like Aidan Meyler from the ECB called the discipline “remarkable” — and they were right.

But in the comments, another truth appeared — just as real, just as uncomfortable:

“This stability was paid for by the people — especially the most vulnerable. Pensioners, families, and the young who eventually gave up and left.”

And this is where Bulgaria’s paradox becomes visible:
How can a country be economically stable and still lose its people?

Today, as I write this, Bulgaria is preparing for yet another protest outside Parliament on Monday morning. A protest driven by more than economic worries — it is driven by a collapse in trust.

People no longer believe that their political leaders are competent enough to protect the stability that citizens themselves fought for during 28 long years.

The 2026 Budget: The Perfect Storm

When I wrote about the long journey of discipline, it was easy to imagine that Bulgaria had finally reached a happy ending.
But Bulgaria in 2025 is entering a period of profound uncertainty.

Economists, academics, journalists, and business leaders in the comments pointed out what cannot be ignored:

• The public sector is collapsing

• Wages remain the lowest in the EU

• Education is in crisis

• Healthcare is underfunded

• FDI is painfully low

• Corruption still weakens institutions

And all of this now explodes in the political battle around the 2026 budget.

What happens when a nation with historically low trust suddenly needs to carry out one of the biggest economic transformations in 20 years?

Chaos.
Confusion.
Anger.
Protests.

That is why people will gather outside Parliament again tomorrow.

Not because they oppose stability —
but because they no longer trust the people responsible for maintaining it.

Bulgaria: A Future Nation Without Leadership?

The most surprising part of the LinkedIn reaction wasn’t the number of comments.
It was the collective feeling of leaderlessness.

Bulgarians, both at home and abroad, wrote things like:

• “We have no vision.”

• “We have no direction.”

• “The reforms are stuck.”

• “Nobody tells us where we’re going.”

This is not pessimism.
This is a cry from a people who feel the potential of their country — but watch it evaporate because of political games, internal power networks, and oligarchic structures that still operate beneath the surface.

Bulgaria is not a country in decay.
It is a country in conflict with itself.

The currency board created a strong skeleton.
But Bulgaria still lacks the muscles:

• functioning institutions

• a trusted legal system

• transparency

• long-term thinking

• visionary leadership

These things have not yet been built.
They lie ahead, not behind.

Tomorrow’s Protest: A Referendum on Trust

When Bulgarians take to the streets, it is never spontaneous.
It is never casual.
It comes after months — sometimes years — of silent frustration.

Tomorrow’s protest outside the Parliament is not an isolated event.
It is part of a longer tradition of civic pressure that goes back to 2013, 2020, and earlier.

When Bulgarians protest, they do not do it to overthrow the state.
They do it to save it.

And that is important to understand.

Bulgarians do not love chaos.
They have lived through too many political collapses, too many crises, too many broken promises to want another one.

They protest because they know that if they don’t do it, nobody else will.

Tomorrow’s gathering is essentially a referendum on a single question:

Do we still trust you?

And at this moment, the answer is painfully clear:
No. Not anymore.

A Nation Caught Between Fear and Opportunity

The most common question in the comments on my previous article was this:

“If everything is so good — why are the young leaving?”

It is a fair question.
And the answer is brutally simple:

It takes generations to build a stable economic system.
But it takes only days to lose trust in the people running it.

Young Bulgarians do not leave because Bulgaria is weak.
They leave because leadership is weak.

They do not want to live in a country where:

• wages are low

• corruption is a shadow under every table

• institutions break down

• talent is undervalued

• and long-term vision is missing

But here is the paradox:

Most who leave still love Bulgaria.

They do not leave out of hatred.
They leave out of heartbreak.

A Country at the Edge of Something Great — or Something Dangerous

The year 2026 should mark Bulgaria’s entrance into the eurozone.
This should be a symbol of:

• stability

• growth

• modernization

• and new international confidence

Instead, the country stands at a crossroads.

If handled correctly:

→ Bulgaria steps into Europe’s inner circle
→ Investment grows
→ Wages start rising
→ The tech sector accelerates
→ Diaspora Bulgarians begin to return
→ The country takes its rightful place in Europe

If handled poorly:

→ Stagflation
→ Capital flight
→ Erosion of trust
→ Institutional breakdown
→ Another wave of emigration
→ A collapse in political legitimacy

That is why people protest tomorrow.
Not to stop the future —
but to save it.

Bulgaria Needs a New Social Contract

When a country has:

• Europe’s strictest economic discipline

• Some of Europe’s lowest wages

• One of the EU’s largest population declines

• A frustrated young generation

• And one of the continent’s most dynamic tech ecosystems

… then something fundamental in the balance between the state, the leadership, and the people is broken.

It is not the system that lacks strength.
It is the relationship between citizens and those who govern.

Bulgaria needs a new social contract.

A contract where the state says:

• “We see you.”

• “We serve you.”

• “We will earn your trust.”

And where people can say:

• “We believe you again.”

Right now, the distance between those two points is wider than ever.

But Bulgaria Has a Unique Opportunity — Right Now

It is easy to view tomorrow’s protests as a sign of weakness.

I see the opposite.

A sleeping nation does not protest.
A defeated nation does not protest.
A hopeless nation does not protest.

Bulgarians are awake.
Alert.
And still full of hope — even if that hope is mixed with anger.

That is why they protest.
That is why the LinkedIn discussion erupted.
And that is why Bulgaria still has a future worth fighting for.

There is an entire generation — young and old — who refuse to accept that Bulgaria should merely “survive.”

They want it to thrive.

The End of One Era — and the Beginning of the Next

My previous article described the 28 years that brought Bulgaria here.
This one is about what comes next.

The old discipline protected Bulgaria from collapse.
But discipline alone is no longer enough.

Now the country needs:

• courage

• transparency

• modernization

• institutional reform

• and above all: trust

The Bulgarian people have carried their part of the weight for 28 years.
Now it is their leaders’ turn.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of something new.
Not because politicians said so —
but because the people demand it.

Conclusion

Bulgaria is not a country moving toward the future.
It is a country that has lived in the future for nearly three decades — and must now decide whether it will stay there or fall back.

Tomorrow’s protest outside Parliament is about this choice.
About who will own the future.
About who will be trusted to guide a nation that has already proven it can achieve the impossible.

This is not chaos.
This is democracy — alive, loud, and unafraid.

And it may be the most hopeful sign of all.