We have processes of decay in our social and public fabric, which in recent years have been supported by the collapse of the institutional environment. The lack of control and institutions that regularly and impartially do their job contributes to all of this.
This was expressed by political scientist Hristo Panchugov in an interview with BNR. According to him, confirmation of this can be seen in the recent revelations about nursing homes.
"There is one service that is becoming more and more necessary - the one related to hospices and the elderly, but which is currently absent from the Bulgarian market. This is also complex - lack of personnel, lack of the possibility for a large part of Bulgarian society to afford a reasonable price for a truly meaningful service, which leads to abdication at every level - abdication of people to seek solutions, abdication of similar institutions to offer adequate service, abdication of the state to enforce rules where there are obvious violations," he commented.
According to him, several waves of research on European values measure extremely low social tolerance and a very low level of social trust, i.e. the willingness to trust and rely on close people.
"We are where we are, and obviously we are not doing anything to become more prepared," said the political scientist, drawing an analogy between these shocking revelations and our readiness for the eurozone.
"The euro is not some imaginary future place, it is part of a commitment that we have already made," he reminded in an interview for the show "Before Everyone."
And he added: "We are already in the EU. And the fact that so many years later there is such a level of disintegration in our society and institutional environment is concerning in itself. What is happening right now with the ministers is damage control. It is an attempt to draw a short-term political dividend or to cover up the inability of the state so far to react and intervene in such situations, as well as to create the feeling that similar situations are no longer possible."
"The euro has been imposed as some kind of imaginary enemy, which we can fight relatively easily, i.e. It is now at the level of the irrational, of fears that people consider as relevant and objective, but they are not entirely rational. This cannot be overcome with a campaign or rational arguments. Unfortunately, that moment has passed. We will continue to see attempts to clean up this image, to use it for radicalization, for managing public opinion, for mobilization on one or another topic. The months ahead, I do not think, will go by without the protests continuing and attempts to escalate or radicalize this exercise. This can no longer be overcome with any information campaign, but it can be managed and can be done in a way that does not allow for such escalation, radicalization, and growth of these damages," commented Hristo Panchugov. According to him, the only thing that would help in this situation is to introduce the euro as soon as possible.
The more politicians talk about the "enemy" that some people are trying to fight, called the euro, and we start discussing the essence of what is happening from here on out, the easier it will be to get out of such a situation, believes the political scientist and adds:
"I do not think that we can expect the Bulgarian political class to suddenly surpass themselves, i.e. to suddenly start seeing the bigger picture and trying to take advantage of this reformist stance, which could potentially lead us to membership in the eurozone".
According to him, we need to start realizing the role of citizens and how they can be meaningful players in this direction.
13253 | 10 June 2025 | 14:34
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