65284 | 19 May 2026 | 08:47
The state of Korneliya
Paun Tzonev
Korneliya sat in the living room, looking gloomy for the hundredth time as she was scrolling through the results of the April 19th election on the Central Election Commission's website. No matter how much she looked, it seemed like it was always the same. In the leadership district 25 in Sofia, where she led the list of her party "Unwavering Bulgaria" that she formed after being expelled from the Bulgarian Socialist Party, only 492 rebellious Bulgarians voted for her.
And for the winner, Rumen Radev with his "Progressive Bulgaria" - over 48,000! Perhaps the Bulgarian people simply do not like freedom, because they do not know what to do with it, the leader thought as she looked at the television. At that moment, Radev appeared on the screen, receiving the mandate from President Yotova to govern the country. Something burned in Korneliya's heart.
She remembers how ten years ago, with her own signature, she submitted the documents for the almost unknown Rumen and Iliana as candidates for president and vice president of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, headed at the time by her. She had other options then, but she chose this one, not so much for the presidential candidate, but because of the vice presidential candidate. For some time, she had felt charismatic Iliana as her internal party competition. And by agreeing, even admiring, her nomination for a doomed battle, she would have cut off her future rising career as a participant in elections lost by the party.
In 2016, everyone was convinced that the GERB candidate would win without problems. As the leader of the ruling party said, even a donkey could run and they would choose it. But, who knows why, instead of choosing the winning donkey, the leader chose the unelectable Cecka. And it was a fatal mistake. The little-known Air Force general sensationally won.
If he had chosen the donkey, the history of Bulgaria would have taken a completely different turn. Yes, but no. Radev and Yotova had two successful terms. Later, Iliana, the vice president, became president, and the general became prime minister! And all of this with the personal signature and explicit will of Kornelia. "If I hadn't promoted him, he would probably be playing cards at the neighborhood café in Slatina with the other retired military officers," thought Kornelia.
Instead, the former Air Force commander became the most powerful and all-powerful person in the country, while she sits at home and counts the handful of disobedient Bulgarians. Ah, what a pity.
In the interest of truth, Korneliya regrets her choice only a few months after the 2016 presidential election and did everything possible to quarrel with the president and vice president. Why did no one understand? Including the president and vice president themselves.
While she lamented her unhappy fate, suddenly on the screen appeared Ivo Hristov, and below was written "Deputy Prime Minister." Korneliya was shocked and even stumbled! But isn't this the same person whom she personally placed on an electable spot on the list for the 2017 European Parliament elections and launched into politics, despite the resistance of a large part of the party's top leadership? She, however, was stubborn and so Ivo spent five wonderful years in Brussels and returned from the promised European capital with solid political experience and probably a solidly growing bank account, if he saved enough from the fat Brussels salaries provided for European parliamentarians who care about the bright future of the European Union... True, he also ruined his relationship with her, but, one way or another, without her he would never have become a deputy prime minister now. Her heart started bleeding again.
The TV footage changed and suddenly the new leader of the huge parliamentary group of Progressive Bulgaria, Peter Vitanov, appeared. Oh my God, oh my God! Cornelia took her device to measure her blood pressure. Well, the aforementioned Peter himself included himself in the fourth place on the BSP's list for the European Parliament elections in the same year, 2017! At the time, nobody knew him, nor had anyone heard of him. She had even forgotten who had proposed him to her. Petio was so meek, humble, well-mannered, almost unremarkable, one could say he would make way for an ant. And now – one of the top people in the country! By the way, it's a big mystery how Kornelia managed to fall out with this good boy in just one year.
In fact, out of the five members of the BSP (Bulgarian Socialist Party) who they sent to Brussels after just a year and a half, she only talked to the fifth one, the least known Penkova. The others - Elena Yoncheva, Sergey Stanishev, Ivaylo Hristov and Petar Vitanov, she had gotten rid of. And they of her.
An axiom was formed – if you want to succeed in politics, you have to fall out with Kornelia.
This ironclad truth was also realized by her closest associates in the party, her deputies Zafirov, Gutsanov, and the old nomenklatura members Manol Genov and Ivan Ivanov. They not only froze her out, but also removed her from the party for more security. Immediately, they were rewarded with one deputy prime minister position and three ministerial positions in the GERB-dominated government. Cornelia took this betrayal and ingratitude lightly, knowing it was a doomed and self-destructive move by insane careerists and power-hungry individuals. She even felt a sense of satisfaction, as it was clear to her how this adventure would end and she was certain it would sink the entire party. And that's exactly what happened. That's why she hurried to register the new "Defiant Bulgaria," which was already being talked about.
The session in the National Assembly was broadcasted on TV and she saw that one deputy was constantly speaking and talking longer and more captivatingly than the boring leader of the parliamentary group. Obviously, he was acting as a spokesperson. When they gave him a close-up, she gasped - she saw that it was her colleague Kutev! A man knowledgeable on all matters of astrophysics, who commented with a speed of ten words per second, fired from his mouth like from a machine gun. He fully embodied the symptoms of uncontrollable pleonasm and classic loquacity. Translated from Greek, pleonasm means the use of unnecessary words for the completeness of the statement or speech. There is no need to explain loquacity.
In spite of this, in 2017 . Cornelia put him on an elective position on the red list, made him a deputy in parliament, and even a vice-chair of the parliamentary group. Then she also brought him into the leadership of the party, where he naturally became a spokesperson.
From 2017 to 2022, in just 5 years, Cornelia and the continuously speaking Kutev have reduced the BSP's results from 920,000 to 232,000 votes in 6 consecutive elections. Kutev saw this as sufficient and left both the narrow and broad leadership of the BSP, and technically transferred to President Radev's camp. And now he's basking in the elite of the dominant party of Prime Minister - sun.
But Cornelia is nursing wounds at home and cursing her cursed fate. A necessary nail.
As progressive as the ruling party may be, if they do not take appropriate measures to control the unstoppable speaker, it is not surprising to see the remarkable regression of the BSP from the aforementioned period.
Interestingly, the footsteps of the old Kutev are confidently being followed by the young Vasilev. This rising speaker must also be kept in check. Especially after his impressive lecture, which he gave before shocked parliamentary reporters, emphasizing the need for a new innovative approach in communication between journalists and parliamentarians, which boils down to the demand that only the reporters he likes ask him questions, and only about what interests him.
While Kutev was showering the plenary hall with words and ideas and Slavi was instructing the shocked female reporters, Cornelia continued to sit in the lounge listlessly. Forgotten by her team, politics, and the government. The thought crossed her mind that she recruited most of the top management positions in the country. Ungrateful people...this annoyed her a little and she decided not to give up. She will only change the name of her party. From "Defiant Bulgaria" to "Ungrateful Bulgaria."
Because the election results showed that there are almost no defiant Bulgarians, but look, there are as many ungrateful Bulgarians as you want. The great Ivan Hadjiyski noticed this in his research on the national psychology of Bulgarians. She believes that her new political project can become the flag of this huge electorate, which not only will bring her back to parliament, but even give her a full majority. Cornelia went to bed and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.
Something that hasn't happened to her in a long time.
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