site.bta73.9% of Bulgarians Complain of Rising Prices of Goods and Services in Recent Weeks

According to nearly three-quarters of Bulgarians, 73.9%, the prices of goods and services in recent weeks have increased, according to a survey conducted by the Myara agency. The highest percentage is among the oldest age groups, but the perception is notable even among supporters of the current ruling parties, the agency adds.

In this wide-ranging polls they also answer questions about wildfires and global politics.

Only 2% of adult Bulgarians feel that prices of goods and services have gone down in recent weeks. Another 17.3% report no change, while nearly 7% say they are unsure.

In the season of wildfires, 63% of adult Bulgarians express a positive opinion of the work done by the fire department, while 21.2% hold the opposite view. The remaining approximately 16% are undecided. Overall, this shows that public trust in firefighters in Bulgaria is high.

However, when respondents were asked, through an experimental indicator, to choose between two interpretations of the situation, most Bulgarians remained fundamentally critical of the institutions responsible for managing the wildfire crisis. 31.9% agree with the statement: “Institutions in Bulgaria are doing as much as they can, even though the situation is clearly difficult.” But 57.3% chose the other statement: “The situation is clearly difficult, but the institutions in Bulgaria are not doing all they can.” Just over 10% were undecided.

When asked to identify up to three key factors behind the wildfire situation, almost 90% cited human negligence, while 84.6% pointed to intentional arson. Natural causes such as high temperatures, wind, etc. were mentioned by 68.3%, and 45.5% blamed insufficient care from the responsible institutions. 

Pollsters say that, on a basic human level, firefighters naturally elicit approval, but scepticism toward institutional performance remains a traditional sentiment. What stands out most, the pollsters add, is a sense of collective self-blame. Trust in firefighters is high, and public expectations of institutions are also high, but Bulgarians don’t see institutional shortcomings as the main cause of the crisis. They believe the decisive factors are society’s carelessness or malice, the agency writes.

Pollsters also asked respondents about their attitudes toward several European countries: Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Ukraine, as well as the United States, the European Union as a whole, and NATO in the context of recent meetings between President Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and European leaders who accompanied the Ukrainian President to Washington.

These meetings took place against the backdrop of Bulgaria’s traditionally greater respect for European powers and more hesitant view of Russia and the US, according to the analysis of the pollsters. This longstanding instinct results in 64.9% of Bulgarians expressing a positive attitude toward the EU, with 21.3% holding a negative view, and around 14% undecided.

Attitudes toward Germany are similar: 61.2% positive, 25.2% negative, and 13.6% unsure. For France, 54.1% hold a positive view, 28.9% a negative one, and 17% are undecided. Even the UK, which left the EU, still receives mostly positive sentiment: 51.3% positive, 31.2% negative, and 17.5% unsure.

NATO receives 38.7% positive and 41.9% negative views, with nearly 20% undecided. 32.5% of Bulgarians express a positive opinion toward the U.S., while 49.6% have a negative one, and 17.9% are unsure. For Russia, 31.2% are positive, 49.7% negative, and 19.1% undecided. Ukraine receives 24.7% positive, 55.1% negative and 20.2% unsure.

“The analysts conclude that clearly Bulgarian public sentiment still favours the general idea of Europe. In the Bulgarian public eye, Ukraine, which receives relatively low positive sentiment and now stands in this respect close to Russia, whose image has deteriorated since the start of the invasion, remains “the collateral victim” in the international conflict. The current image of the US also appears to polarize opinion in Bulgaria.