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GERB
Conservative political party in Bulgaria From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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GERB, an acronym for Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria[1] (Bulgarian: Граждани за европейско развитие на България, romanized: Grazhdani za evropeysko razvitie na Bŭlgaria), is a conservative center-right populist[6][7] political party which was the ruling party of Bulgaria during the periods between 2009-2013, 2016-2021, 2025-present and was supporting the Denkov government between 2023-2024.
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History
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GERB is headed by former Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov, the former mayor of Sofia, former member of the National Movement Simeon II and former personal guard of Todor Zhivkov in the 1990s. The establishment of the party followed the creation of a non-profit organization with the acronym (in Bulgarian) GERB — Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, earlier the same year.
In early January 2007,[17] and early February 2007,[18] the party came second in public polls on party support with around 14%, trailing the Bulgarian Socialist Party which had around 25%. Its stated priorities are fighting crime and corruption, preserving family as the cornerstone of society and achieving energy independence.
GERB won the 2009 European Parliament election in Bulgaria with 24.36% of the vote. The party elected five MEPs and joined the European People's Party Group in the European Parliament (in the EPP section). On June 6, 2007, GERB applied formally to join as a member-party the European People's Party[19] and joined EPP on February 7, 2008.[20]
GERB won the 2009 parliamentary elections, held a month after the European ballot, winning 39.7% of the popular vote and 116 seats (out of 240). After the elections, a new government was formed, led by Borisov, primarily with GERB members and with 5 independent ministers around Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov. The reformist wing was responsible for some of the most significant legislative victories, including a Constitutional reform to ban tax increases. GERB's candidates for the 2011 presidential election, Rosen Plevneliev and Margarita Popova (presidential nominee and running mate, respectively), won the elections on the second ballot with 52.6% of the popular vote.
On February 20, 2013, the government resigned after nationwide protests demanding it to step down.[21] GERB remained the largest party after the 2013 parliamentary elections with 97 seats, receiving 30.5% of the popular vote. GERB failed to create governing coalition and went to opposition, when other parties supported the Oresharski government. However, due to the collapse of the coalition government in 2014 due to a new, even bigger wave of mass protests, GERB backed into power after the snap elections. GERB formed the second Borisov government with the Reformist Bloc and ABV with the support of the Patriotic Front. GERB's candidates for the 2016 presidential election, Tsetska Tsacheva and Plamen Manushev (presidential nominee and running mate, respectively), lost on the second round with 36.16%, while the opponent Rumen Radev won 59.37% of the votes and became President. After the election, Borisov resigned and the country headed for new elections. On the 2017 parliamentary election, GERB came first once again, winning 33.5% from the vote and 95 seats. He formed the Third Borisov government with the United Patriots. The government was also supported by Volya.
In 2020 GERB suffered a split, as a sizable number of members and local party organizations left alongside former second-in-command Tsvetan Tsvetanov to form the Republicans for Bulgaria party.[22] The whole second half of 2020 saw mass protests against the GERB government, but nevertheless, Borisov did not resign.
In the April 2021 parliamentary election GERB was first with 26.18% of the vote. However, any attempts to form a coalition failed. In the July 2021 snap election, former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's GERB-led coalition came second for first time since the creation of the party, with 23.51 percent of the vote.[23] The next snap election was in November same year, Kiril Petkov's coalition emerged as surprise victors over the conservative GERB party, which dominated Bulgarian politics in the last decade. GERB has been in opposition since December 2021[24] until June 2022 - the fall of Petkov's government. After the 2022 election, government was not formed. After the 2023 election, GERB came first with a little margin over the PP-DB coalition, which came second. PP-DB and GERB formed the Denkov government, but GERB had very few ministers. In March 2024, a so called "rotation" of the government was planned, but the negotiations failed. GERB came first on the June 2024 election and October 2024 election. In January 2025, GERB formed the Zhelyazkov government with BSP, ITN and outside support from APS.
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Criticism
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Corruption and Misuse of EU Funds
GERB has faced significant criticism regarding corruption and misuse of EU funds. Bulgaria ranked 67th on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index in 2023, scoring 45 out of 100, penultimate in the European Union, having declined from 71st place in 2009 to a low of 78th in 2021.[25][26][27]
2020–2021 protests
GERB faced massive public protests in 2020–2021, with demonstrators demanding the resignation of party leader and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov over systemic corruption and poor governance. The protests lasted over 100 consecutive days, marking one of the longest sustained demonstrations in modern Bulgarian history.[28]
The protests were triggered by multiple high-profile corruption scandals, including leaked recordings of senior officials discussing bribes and the resignation of the chief prosecutor amid allegations of protecting organized crime figures close to the government. Demonstrators occupied central Sofia nightly, blocking major intersections and demanding systemic judicial reform.[29]
Contradictions Between EU Rhetoric and Domestic Policy
GERB has faced criticism regarding apparent contradictions between its formal pro-European alignment in the European Parliament and its record implementing EU integration domestically. Political scientists studying executive behavior in EU candidate and member states have identified what they characterize as "pragmatic populism" among GERB's leadership, whereby EU integration is deployed defensively as a rhetorical shield against domestic political pressure while institutional reforms required for effective integration have been deferred or resisted.[30][31]
This pattern is evident in three major areas of EU integration: Schengen accession, eurozone adoption, and rule of law reforms. Regarding Schengen, Bulgaria met the technical requirements established by European authorities in 2010 but remained outside the area for 15 years. The European Union repeatedly cited rule of law and corruption concerns as the basis for this exclusion—concerns that observers argue GERB's governance did not adequately address.[32][33] Bulgaria gained full Schengen membership on 1 January 2025 following accession on 31 March 2024 (partial, air and sea only), with the final decision driven primarily by initiatives from the EU's Hungarian presidency and European Commission, together with a shift in Austria's position after a Budapest agreement in November 2024 addressing migration concerns.[34][35]
Regarding eurozone adoption, GERB designated euro entry as a priority upon taking office in 2009, with stated target dates of 2013.[36] Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov subsequently announced multiple target dates for Bulgaria's eurozone entry in 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023 each of which was postponed.[37][38][39][40] In January 2025, with Bulgaria's inflation recorded at 0.1% above the Maastricht criterion, Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova announced that the government would not request an extraordinary convergence assessment from EU authorities, despite the narrow gap between Bulgaria's inflation and the required threshold.[41][42] Opposition figures characterized this decision as an impediment to Bulgaria's EU integration objectives. One opposition MP stated: "If our own government does not play a double game, if it does not sabotage us, our chances for the eurozone next year are huge".[43] The GERB-led government reversed this position on February 24, 2025, submitting extraordinary convergence reports to the European Commission and ECB following domestic political pressure.[44]
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