What If Bulgaria’s Economy Is Moving Forward Faster Than Its Institutions and Leadership Culture?

What interested me most was not whether people agreed with every sentence. It was the pattern that emerged. Again and again, the discussion returned to the same question:

Is the real problem the economy, or is it the mentality?

The more I read the reactions, the more I realised that this may be the wrong question. Perhaps the real problem is that Bulgaria’s economy is developing faster than its institutions, leadership culture and social expectations. And perhaps that gap is now becoming one of the country’s most important challenges.

Bulgaria Is Not Standing Still

One important criticism of my previous article was that Bulgaria should not be portrayed as an economically hopeless country. That criticism is fair.

There are jobs. There are opportunities. There are successful companies, technology businesses, international employers, entrepreneurs, remote workers and specialists earning good salaries.

Sofia in particular is not the Sofia of twenty years ago. New businesses are appearing. International companies are investing. The technology sector has created career paths that previously did not exist. Remote work has made it possible for people to live in Bulgaria while working internationally. Some highly skilled professionals can today build very successful lives without leaving the country.

For those with specialist skills, international experience or access to the right industries, the opportunities can be substantial.

This matters because the old explanation — that everyone leaves simply because there is no work — is no longer enough. The situation is more complicated. A country can have economic growth and still lose talented people. A person can earn a good salary and still decide to leave.

The question then becomes: why?

You Can Have a Good Job and Still Lose Faith in the Country

A strong salary does not automatically create a strong society. A good job does not solve every problem if the school system is deteriorating, the police are not trusted, infrastructure is badly planned, public institutions are seen as ineffective and corruption is perceived as part of everyday life.

This was one of the strongest messages in the reactions to my first article. People described a country where economic opportunity exists, but where frustration with the wider system remains.

You may have a successful career, but still worry about where your children will go to school. You may earn a good salary, but still become frustrated by poor urban planning. You may build a company, but still encounter bureaucracy, unpredictable decisions or people who believe the rules do not apply to them. You may succeed professionally and still feel that the wider social contract is broken.

This is an important distinction. People do not only migrate from poverty. They also migrate from frustration. They leave when the daily cost of dealing with dysfunctional systems becomes greater than the emotional cost of leaving home.

Perhaps It Is the Mentality — But What Does That Really Mean?

Several reactions reduced the issue to one word:

Mentality.

At first, that may sound simplistic. But behind that word is something much deeper.

People described arrogance, selfishness, aggression, poor leadership, a lack of respect, a “me first” attitude and a belief that laws are for other people. They described workplaces where educated, polite and competent people can feel pushed aside while aggressive or insecure individuals rise into management. They described leaders who demand respect without earning it. They described organisations where position is confused with competence.

This is not unique to Bulgaria. I have seen terrible managers in Sweden. I have seen incompetent people promoted in international companies. Western companies are certainly not automatically better simply because they come from the West.

In fact, some foreign companies contribute to the problem when they view Bulgaria primarily as a low-cost labour market.

A Western company can enter Bulgaria, hire talented people at salaries far below Western European levels, place mediocre managers above them and then congratulate itself on efficiency.

That is not development. That is exploitation with a modern logo.

The real issue is not nationality. It is leadership quality. Bad Bulgarian leadership and bad Western leadership produce the same result: talented people lose motivation.

The Fish Starts Stinking from the Head

One comment used an old expression:

The fish starts stinking from the head.

There is uncomfortable truth in that.

A society eventually reflects what its leaders tolerate. A company reflects what its management rewards. An institution reflects what its leadership allows.

If arrogance is rewarded, arrogance spreads. If corruption has no consequences, corruption becomes rational. If people see that connections matter more than competence, they invest in connections instead of competence. If young professionals see that the path upward is controlled by loyalty, family, politics or personal networks, they stop believing in the system.

And when belief disappears, many do not stay to fight. They leave.

This is why role models matter. Young people need to see competent teachers, honest public officials, responsible politicians, professional managers and entrepreneurs who succeed without destroying everyone around them.

A country cannot lecture its young people about patriotism while repeatedly showing them that the wrong behaviour is rewarded.

The Missing Role Models

Another strong theme in the discussion was the lack of visible role models.

Not celebrities. Not influencers. Not people who became rich through unclear connections.

Real role models.

Leaders who are competent. Managers who develop people. Teachers who inspire. Business owners who build companies without humiliating employees. Politicians who accept responsibility. Public officials who treat citizens with respect.

These people certainly exist in Bulgaria. I have met them. But perhaps they are not visible enough.

The loudest people in society are not always the best people in society. And when young people repeatedly see poor leadership promoted, they begin to draw conclusions.

Why work harder? Why stay honest? Why build something carefully if someone with better connections can take the opportunity? Why remain in an organisation where your competence threatens your manager?

A society does not lose its young people only through low wages. It loses them when ambition begins to feel pointless.

A Balkan Problem, Not Only a Bulgarian Problem

Several reactions came from people who recognised the same story in Greece and other Balkan countries. Others pointed to Romania, Poland, Lithuania and Turkey.

This is important. Bulgaria is not alone.

For decades, large numbers of people from Eastern and Southern Europe have moved toward Western and Northern Europe in search of higher incomes, more stable institutions and broader career opportunities.

This has created a strange European paradox.

The European Union gives people freedom of movement, which is one of its greatest achievements. But that same freedom allows weaker regions to lose their most mobile, educated and ambitious citizens to stronger economies.

The individual wins. The destination country wins. The home country may lose.

A doctor trained in one country becomes a doctor in another. An engineer educated with public resources leaves. A young entrepreneur moves to an ecosystem where financing and networks are easier to access.

This is not a moral failure on the part of those who leave. People are allowed to build the best possible lives for themselves and their families.

The responsibility lies with the countries that fail to create enough reasons for them to stay.

But There Is Another Side to the Story

One of the most important counterarguments to my first article was that leaving Bulgaria does not automatically create a better life. This also deserves serious attention.

The West is not paradise.

Higher salaries often come with much higher housing costs. People move abroad and discover loneliness. They lose grandparents, family networks, social spontaneity and cultural belonging. A salary may double while rent triples. A more efficient system may also be colder and more impersonal.

Some Western societies have problems Bulgaria should not try to copy: extreme housing costs, social isolation, pressure, stress, overregulation and the weakening of family and community structures.

There is therefore a genuine value paradox. Young Bulgarians may leave in search of Western prosperity, only to discover that quality of life cannot be measured only in euros.

Bulgaria has strengths that are easy to overlook when you grow up inside the country. Family closeness. Nature. Food. A slower rhythm outside the major cities. Relatively short distances. A growing technology sector. The possibility, for some people, to combine international income with a Bulgarian cost structure and lifestyle.

Certain services can also be faster, more accessible or more personal than in Western systems that have become bureaucratic and overloaded.

This means Bulgaria should not build its future around the idea that it must become a copy of Sweden, Germany or the Netherlands.

It should understand what it already has.

The Danger of the “Catch-Up” Mentality

Countries can become trapped in the belief that they are always behind.

Behind Germany. Behind Sweden. Behind the Netherlands. Behind “the West.”

This creates a permanent psychology of inferiority.

Every local weakness becomes proof that the country has failed. Every Western system is automatically assumed to be better. Every talented person who leaves becomes evidence that success can only be found elsewhere.

But that is not entirely true.

Bulgaria has areas where it can move faster than older Western systems precisely because it is not carrying the same institutional weight. Technology can leapfrog older infrastructure. Small companies can adapt quickly. International remote work can reduce the importance of geography. Young entrepreneurs can build global businesses from Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas or Bansko.

The challenge is not simply to “catch up.”

The challenge is to build a Bulgarian model that combines economic opportunity with the country’s own strengths.

The Real Threat Is the Gap

This brings me back to the central question.

What happens when the economy develops faster than the culture around it?

You get modern companies inside old hierarchies. You get internationally educated employees reporting to insecure managers. You get global ambitions trapped inside local power structures. You get young people who think internationally but are told to behave according to outdated expectations. You get startup culture beside dysfunctional institutions. You get new wealth without new responsibility. You get expensive apartments without enough schools and kindergartens. You get tourism development without long-term destination management. You get economic growth without enough trust.

That gap creates frustration. And frustration is one of the strongest drivers of migration.

People May Come Back — But Not Automatically

Some people believe that those who left will return.

I believe many could.

But return migration should never be taken for granted.

People return when they see opportunity. They return when they can use what they learned abroad. They return when they believe their children can have a future. They return when their competence is respected. They return when they do not feel that coming home means going backwards.

The worst thing a country can do is welcome returning professionals with suspicion.

“You think you are better because you lived abroad.”

“We do not do things like that here.”

“Do not come and tell us how to work.”

That attitude destroys one of the greatest resources Bulgaria has: its diaspora.

People who have lived abroad carry networks, knowledge, confidence, capital and experience. They should not be treated as outsiders. They should be seen as bridges.

The Question Is No Longer Why People Leave

After reading the reactions to my previous article, I believe the discussion must move forward.

The question is no longer simply:

Why do young Bulgarians leave?

We already know many of the answers.

Money. Opportunity. Leadership. Institutions. Education. Trust. Mentality. Quality of life.

The more important question is:

What kind of country would make them choose to stay?

And perhaps even more importantly:

What kind of country would make those who already left want to return?

Bulgaria does not lack intelligence. It does not lack ambition. It does not lack beauty, culture or potential.

What it needs is a stronger connection between economic progress and social progress. Between growth and responsibility. Between leadership and competence. Between opportunity and trust.

Perhaps Bulgaria’s economy is already moving faster than many people realise. The danger is that its institutions, leadership culture and social expectations do not move with it.

Because when a modern generation is forced to live inside outdated structures, the generation does not always wait for the structures to change.

It leaves.

And the greatest challenge for Bulgaria may not be creating economic growth.

It may be creating a society worthy of the people that growth is producing.