Arguably the most arrogant and unscrupulous lobbying force operating on Bulgarian soil today is a small circle of so-called environmental activists. These individuals live in luxury through a business model based on legally obstructing infrastructure and other national projects. Their tool of choice? Endless demands for repeated Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) — seemingly until those affected finally realize “where Avram is digging roots” (Alekо Konstantinov, Bai Ganyo).
The decades-long blockade of the Struma Motorway stands as the calling card of this form of “eco” extortion.
A more recent example is the obstruction of the Shipka Tunnel — a crucial project that would finally connect northern and southern Bulgaria. Meanwhile, in the Kresna Gorge, lives are lost each year in traffic accidents. Yet the self-styled protectors of nature focus their efforts on preserving “two species of snakes and two species of turtles.”
This behavior amounts not only to financial racketeering but also reveals a kind of ideological fanaticism typical of the green-red activist movement — one in which human lives are viewed as a constant threat to “the environment.”
Endemic corruption and political self-interest have already anchored Bulgaria at the bottom of Europe in terms of infrastructure, water systems, and communications. Now, environmental obstructionism effectively cancels any meaningful effort to integrate the country into the European Union’s infrastructure network.
In doing so, these green racketeers become — whether intentionally or not — allies of those determined to drag Bulgaria back into Eurasian misery and authoritarianism.