New elections in Bulgaria: Tired of lies, young voters want 'green' solutions

After failed attempts to form a government, new elections will take place on July 11. Young Bulgarians intend to cast their ballots for a new generation of politicians who promise to fight corruption and pollution.

"We urgently need more digitalization, legal reforms and a pension increase," explains Daniel Yanev, a 26-year-old Bulgarian living in Berlin. In the summer of 2020, he actively took part in protests against the thengovernment in his homeland. "I simply find it impossible to accept that Bulgaria cannot fulfil its economic potential and that, as a result, people's standard of living is still way below the EU average. And all that is down to the ubiquitous corruption and the way in which public money is wasted in Bulgaria," Yanev tells DW.

On July 11, Bulgarians will be called to the ballot box for the second time this year, after attempts to form a government after the April 4 election failed. Young people who took to the streets last year are once more determined to cast their votes in order to finally precipitate change in the corruption-ridden Balkan country — even if that means they will have to interrupt their summer holidays to do so.

Together with friends, Daniel Yanev set up a fact-checking platform where its name translates to "Are you lying?" During the election campaign, the founders research whether politicians spread falsehoods or manipulative statements and publish their findings online. "We give special attention to checking statements relating to areas of economy and health," Daniel says. "Incorrect information on issues such as these are particularly dangerous."

Although Daniel has already decided which party will receive his support on election day, he is at a loss — because, even members of "his" party do not tell the truth sometimes. "Working on the 'Are you lying' platform has taught me to think critically."

Suffering from corruption

"Corruption is the main scourge in our country," agrees Boris Bonev. In 2015, he joined other young activists in founding "Save Sofia," a NGO watchdog which monitors and criticizes the policies of the Bulgarian capital's mayor, Yordanka Fandakova, and the city's adminis