Bulgarian Social Democracy – EuroLeft

Bulgarian Social Democracy – EuroLeft (Bulgarian: Българска социалдемокрация – Евролевица, romanized: Bŭlgarska sotsialdemokratsiya – Evrolevitsa; BSDE), formerly Bulgarian EuroLeft (Bulgarian: Българска евролевица, romanized: Bŭlgarska evrolevitsa; BEL) is a pro-Western social-democratic^[2][3] political party in Bulgaria. The party was established on 22 February 1997 in Sofia.^[4][5] The party was formed by former members of the Bulgarian Socialist Party.^[6][1]

Bulgarian Social-Democracy-Euro-Left Българска Социалдемокрация-Евролевица
Leader	Aleksandr Tomov[1]
Founded	1997
Split from	Bulgarian Socialist Party
Ideology	Social democracy Pro-Europeanism
National affiliation	BSP – United Left
International affiliation	Socialist International (1999–2011)
Website
https://bgsd.eu/
Politics of Bulgaria Political parties Elections

The BEL was admitted into the Socialist International as an observer affiliate in 1999.^[7] The party was in favour of Bulgaria's accession to the European Union.^[8]

History

Beginnings

The party contested the 1997 Bulgarian parliamentary election as the Civil Union for the Republic – Bulgarian Euro-Left, winning 5.5% of the vote and 14 seats in the National Assembly.^[5][9] Two deputies from the Bulgarian Business Bloc joined the BEL in February 1998.^[5] The party was part of the opposition in the National Assembly.

In 1998, the coalition voted to convert itself into a party, establishing a National Council to lead it.^[10]

In 2000, BEL formed into a new party, BSDE.

This new party competed in the 2001 election, and failed to win any seats alongside minor party allies. and following the election, a split off party from the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, the Bulgarian United Social Democratic Party led by Valkana Todorova, merged into BSDE.^[11]

Alliances

Rose Coalition (2005)

In the 2005 election, the party took part in the election in the Rose Coalition. The composition of the coalition was as follows.^[12]

Party		Leader	Ideology
	Bulgarian Social Democracy – EuroLeft (BSDE)	Aleksandr Tomov	Social democracy
	National Movement for Rights and Freedoms (NDPS)	Güner Tahir	Minority Rights
	United Bloc of Labour [bg] (OBT)	Krastyo Petkov	Social democracy

Coalition of the Dissatisfied

In the 2007 election, the party took part in the election in the Coalition of the Dissatisfied. The composition of the coalition was as follows.^[13]

Party		Leader	Ideology
	Bulgarian Social Democracy – EuroLeft (BSDE)	Aleksandr Tomov	Social democracy
	Christian Social Union (KSS)	Grisha Gospodinov

Together for Change

This article is about the electoral coalition in Bulgaria. For the Argentine party, see Juntos por el Cambio. For the Montenegrin party, see Together for Change.

In both the April and July 2021 elections, the party took part in the Together for Change coalition. The composition of the coalition was as follows.^[14]

Party		Leader	Ideology
	Bulgarian Social Democracy – EuroLeft (BSDE)	Aleksandr Tomov	Social democracy
	European Security and Integration (ESI)	Toma Tomov	Roma Minority politics
	Patriotism 2000 (R2000)	Julian Ivanov

Rose Coalition (2024)

In the 2024 election, the party took part in the election in the Rose Coalition. The coalition included two of the three former members of the 2005 coalition. NDPS last took part in elections with DOST in 2019. The composition of the coalition was as follows.^[15]

Party		Leader	Ideology
	Bulgarian Social Democracy – EuroLeft (BSDE)	Aleksandr Tomov	Social democracy
	United Bloc of Labour [bg] (OBT)	Krastyo Petkov	Social democracy Labourism
	Patriotism 2000 (R2000)	Julian Ivanov

BSP – United Left

Main article: BSP – United Left

In the run up to the October 2024 election, BSDE joined the BSP alliance.

Election results

National Assembly

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Government
1997	234,058	5.50 (#4)	14 / 240	New	Opposition
2001	44,637	0.98 (#8)	0 / 240	14	Extra-parliamentary
2005[a]	47,410	1.13 (#9)	0 / 240	0	Extra parliamentary
2009	Did not contest
2013	Did not contest
2014	9,431	0.29 (#16)	0 / 240	0	Extra parliamentary
2017[b]	5,945	0.17 (#15)	0 / 240	0	Extra parliamentary
Apr 2021[c]	3,485	0.11 (#20)	0 / 240	0	Extra-parliamentary
Jul 2021[d]	3,445	0.12 (#18)	0 / 240	0	Extra-parliamentary
Nov 2021	13,710	0.52 (#10)	0 / 240	0	Extra-parliamentary
2022	5,343	0.21 (#17)	0 / 240	0	Extra-parliamentary
2023	2,633	0.10 (#17)	0 / 240	0	Extra-parliamentary
Jun 2024[e]	2,206	0.10 (#26)	0 / 240	0	Extra-parliamentary
Oct 2024[f]	184,403	7.32 (#5)	0 / 240 [g]	0	Extra-parliamentary

1. Run as part of the Rose Coalition (with NDPS and OBT).
2. Run as part of the Coalition of the Dissatisfied (with KSS).
3. Run as part of the Together for Change coalition (with ESI and R2000).
4. Run again as Together for Change.
5. Run as part of the Rose Coalition (with OBT and R2000).
6. Run in the BSP – United Left alliance.
7. BSDE won 0 seats, but the coalition won 20

European Parliament

Election	List leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	EP Group
2009	Unclear	14,132	0.55 (#11)	0 / 18	New	–
2014	Did not contest			0 / 18	0
2019	Did not contest			0 / 18	0
2024[a]	Aleksandr Tomov	2,294	0.11 (#25)	0 / 18	0

1. Run as part of the Rose Coalition (with OBT and R2000).

References

1. Ian Jeffries (2002). Eastern Europe at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: A Guide to the Economies in Transition. Routledge. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-134-56151-3.
2. Richard E. Matland; Kathleen A. Montgomery (2003). Women ́s Access to Political Power in Post-communist Europe. Oxford University Press. p. 310. ISBN 978-0-19-924686-1. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
3. Paul Lewis (2002). Political Parties in Post-Communist Eastern Europe. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-134-63437-8.
4. Janusz Bugajski (2002). Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-Communist Era. M.E. Sharpe. p. 790. ISBN 978-1-56324-676-0. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
5. Charles Vance; Yongsun Paik (2006). Managing a Global Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities in International Human Resource Management. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 790–791. ISBN 978-0-7656-2016-3.
6. Frederick B. Chary (2011). The History of Bulgaria. ABC-CLIO. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-313-38446-2. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
7. "Socialist International – Progressive Politics For A Fairer World". www.socialistinternational.org.
8. Elena A. Iankova (2009). Business, Government, and EU Accession: Strategic Partnership and Conflict. Lexington Books. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-7391-3057-5.
9. Peter Barker (1998). The Party of Democratic Socialism in Germany: Modern Post-communism Or Nostalgic Populism?. Rodopi. p. 173. ISBN 90-420-0350-2.
10. "Omda.bg - Българска Евролевица /БЕЛ/". OMDA. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
11. "Българската социалдемократическа партия БСДП". www.bsdp.bg. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
12. "БСД И НДПС учредиха ''Коалиция на розата'' | Dnes.bg". m.dnes.bg. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
13. ""Коалиция на недоволните" на Сашо Томов влиза в предизборната битка". Bgonair (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2024-07-24.
14. "Движение "Заедно за промяна" се регистрира в ЦИК за участие в изборите". bnr.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2024-07-24.
15. "Коалиция „Коалиция на розата"". Vesti.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2024-07-24.