Attack (political party)

Attack
Атака
LeaderVolen Siderov
Founded17 April 2005
Headquarters1 Vrabcha St., 1000 Sofia
NewspaperAtaka Newspaper
Youth wingNational Youth Organization Attack
TV stationAlfa TV
Ideology
Political positionFar-right[1][2][14][15]
ReligionBulgarian Orthodox Church
National affiliationNeutral Bulgaria (2023)
ColoursBulgarian national colours:
  White
  Green
  Red
Slogan"Let's take back Bulgaria"
(Bulgarian: "Да си върнем България")
National Assembly
0 / 240
European Parliament
0 / 17
Website
ataka.bg

Attack (Bulgarian: Атака, romanized: Ataka) is a nationalist[1][2][3][4][5] political party in Bulgaria, founded in 2005 by Volen Siderov, who was at the time presenter of the homonymous TV show Attack on SKAT TV.

There are different opinions on where to place the party in the political spectrum: according to most scholars it is extreme right,[2][14][15] according to others extreme left, or a synthesis of left- and right-wing.[16][17] The leadership of the party asserts that their party is "neither left nor right, but Bulgarian".[15] The party is considered ultranationalist[2][3][18] and anti-Roma,[13] as well as being anti-Muslim[13] and anti-Turkish.[13][5][2][3][15] The party opposes Bulgarian membership in NATO[5] and requires revision for what it calls the 'double standards' for the membership in the European Union, while members visit international Orthodox and anti-globalization congresses and the party is closely tied with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.[3] It advocates the re-nationalisation of privatised companies and seeks to prioritize spending on education, healthcare and welfare.[14]

In the Bulgarian parliamentary elections of 2005, 2009, and 2013 Attack was consistently the fourth-strongest party. In the 2014 European Parliament election, the party won no seats. Attack was a member of the former Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty European parliamentary group.

  1. ^ a b c Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Bulgaria". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Katsikas, Stefanos (2011). "Negotiating Diplomacy in the New Europe: Foreign Policy in Post-Communist Bulgaria". I.B. Tauris: 64. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e Hopkins, James L. (2009). "The Evolution of Nationalism Within the Bulgarian Orthodox Church". World Christianity in Local Context: Essays in Memory of David A. Kerr. 1. Continuum: 149.
  4. ^ a b Bideleux, Robert; Jeffries, Ian (2007). "The Balkans: A Post-Communist History". Routledge: 120. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e Magone, José M. (2011). "Comparative European Politics: An Introduction". Routledge: 386. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Katsikas, Stefanos (2011). "Negotiating Diplomacy in the New Europe: Foreign Policy in Post-Communist Bulgaria". I.B. Tauris: 64. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ "Outrage over Ataka leader Siderov's antics on Bulgarian National Television talk show". The Sofia Globe. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  8. ^ Doherty, Ben (2 October 2019). "Jock Palfreeman to learn fate on Monday as parole sparks protests in Bulgaria". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Main party in Bulgaria seeks to void election result". BBC News. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  10. ^ Smilova, Ruzha; Smilov, Daniel; Ganev, Georgi (2012). Democracy and the Media in Bulgaria: Who Represents the People?. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 48–49. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  11. ^ "Left Wing, Right Wing, Everything: Xenophobia, Neo-totalitarianism and Populist Politics in Contemporary Bulgaria". Offnews. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  12. ^ Rusofili: Volen, we are with you!. Ataka. 2014.
  13. ^ a b c d Ghodsee, Kristen (2009). Muslim Lives in Eastern Europe: Gender, Ethnicity, and the Transformation of Islam in Postsocialist Bulgaria. Princeton University Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-1400831357.
  14. ^ a b c Meznik, Michael; Thieme, Tom (2012). "Against all Expectations: Right-Wing Extremism in Romania and Bulgaria". The Extreme Right in Europe: Current Trends and Perspectives. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: 205–207.
  15. ^ a b c d Rensmann, Lars (2011). ""Against Globalism": Counter-Cosmopolitan Discontent and Antisemitism in Mobalizations of European Extreme Right Parties". Politics and Resentment: Antisemitism and Counter-Cosmopolitanism in the European Union. Brill: 133.
  16. ^ Mateev, Yordan (14 May 2007). "Кой е ляв и кой десен в България?" [Who is right and who is left in Bulgaria?]. Capital.
  17. ^ Ghodsee, Kristen. "Left Wing, Right Wing, Everything: Xenophobia, Neo-totalitarianism and Populist Politics in Contemporary Bulgaria". Problems of Post-Communism. 55 (3). Academia.edu: 26–39. doi:10.2753/PPC1075-8216550303. S2CID 154912175. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  18. ^ Engström, Jenny (2009). "Democratisation and the Prevention of Violent Conflict: Lessons Learned from Bulgaria and Macedonia". Ashgate: 159. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
    Bugajski, Janusz (2011). "Bulgaria: Progress and Development". Central and East European Politics: From Communism to Democracy (Second ed.). Rowman & Littlefield: 262.