Progressive Bulgaria
Political party in Bulgaria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Progressive Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Прогресивна България, romanized: Progresivna Bŭlgariya, PB) is a centre-left political coalition in Bulgaria consisting of three political parties. The coalition is led by former President Rumen Radev, who founded it to contest the 2026 parliamentary election. The coalition was presented on 2 March 2026.[4]
Dimitar Stoyanov
Elena Noneva
Todor Barbolov
Atanas Kalchev
Progressive Bulgaria Прогресивна България | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | PB |
| Leader | Rumen Radev |
| Co-chairs | Galab Donev Dimitar Stoyanov Elena Noneva Todor Barbolov Atanas Kalchev |
| Founder | Rumen Radev |
| Founded | 2 March 2026 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-left[2] |
| Member parties | PDS SDP DNN VMRO-BND |
| Colors | Dark green[3] |
History
Formation
On 2 March 2026, documents for a coalition called "Progressive Bulgaria" were submitted to the Central Electoral Commission of Bulgaria. The coalition included the following parties: the Political Movement "Social Democrats", led by Elena Noneva; the Social Democratic Party, led by Todor Barbolov; and the Our People Movement, led by Atanas Kalchev. Radev himself did not submit the documents; this was done by former Interim Prime Minister Galab Donev and former Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov.[5][6][7] It was announced that Radev would not be part of the Progressive Bulgaria leadership; instead, Donev and Stoyanov would become co-chairs, as well as the leaders of the three mandate-carrier parties.[4]
On 11 March, it was revealed that candidates from VMRO – Bulgarian National Movement would enter the lists of PB.[8][9] It had earlier announced its support for the coalition in a decision by the party's organizational council.[10]
Ideology
Bulgarian political scientist Antoaneta Hristova stated that the coalition demonstrates a centre-left and social democratic political profile.[1] As president, Radev has supported a referendum on Bulgaria's 2026 adoption of the euro and opposed sanctions against the Russian Federation.[11] He, as well as the coalition itself, have been described as pro-Russian, although this description is disputed.[12][13][14] The party's ideology has been described as putting Bulgarian national interests first while not questioning its EU and NATO integration.[14]
In his Facebook post, Radev explained that his coalition is "a response to Bulgarians' expectations for the dismantling of the oligarchic corruption model".[4]
Composition
| Party | Abbr. | Ideology | Leader | Member since | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political Movement "Social Democrats" | PDS | Social democracy | Elena Noneva | 2 March 2026 | |
| Social Democratic Party | SDP | Social democracy | Todor Barbolov | 2 March 2026 | |
| Our People Movement | DNN | Atanas Kalchev | 2 March 2026 | ||
| VMRO – Bulgarian National Movement[8][9] | VMRO-BND | National conservatism | Krasimir Karakachanov | 11 March 2026 | |
See also
- Alternative for Bulgarian Revival
- 2025–2026 Bulgarian protests, for events that preceeded the formation of the party
