Social injustice is one of the greatest fears of young Bulgarians. Euroscepticism and national nihilism do not thrive among them. This is what data from a comparative sociological survey among young people in Balkan countries show. 85% say the most important value is their looks. Personal independence and careers are also among the priorities. One out of 5 never reads books. One out of 4 never engages in physical exercise. 61% of young people in Bulgaria do not want to emigrate, but the less educated they are, the more willing they are to do so. We have met sociologist Parvan Simeonov, Executive Director of "Gallup International" to talk about a recent snapshot of today’s youth:

“It seems that a lifestyle of consumerism and ineffective use of leisure time are among the factors that lead to the fact that young people in Bulgaria seem to be increasingly delaying departure from parents’ home, as well as marriage and having children. When talking, they express positive attitude towards marriage and having two children but in reality the situation is different. However, we can say that this is the spirit of our time and Bulgarian youth are up to date.”

Merely 14% of young people have political disagreements with their parents. Has the generation gap disappeared?

“The fact that ideas young people nourish coincide with the ideas of their parents is a sign that political transition in Bulgaria has long been over. The rebellion of the previous generation against their fathers is over, which is a sign of normalization. The stormy politicization and opposition of generations has ended, which may be a good thing.”

Young people say freedom is more important than profit. But very few of them are interested in politics – just 7%.

“I suspect they point out freedom because it is the right answer. Among their fears, they point out social injustice and it is for the first time this attitude has been seen so clearly. This is once again a sign of normalization as for a long time the young generation used to emanate individualism. The percentage of those who agree that diplomas are being bought in Bulgaria is very high. This is a sign of extreme pragmatism. They believe that knowledge they receive at school and university does not meet requirements of the labor market. And last but not least, they point out luck as an important factor in finding a job, which is not a very high assessment for our society.”

Young people prefer social media but where is technology leading them to?

“Technology has already reached the stage of artificial intelligence and is already merging with our bodies. ‘Biological upgrade’ is becoming a legitimate term these days. In the coming years we would see rapid development in this direction and another question is whether this would be available to Bulgarian society. These processes are dividing the world into a center that can afford it and a periphery that cannot afford these technologies and is thus placed on another stage of the evolutionary ladder. Because if one could upgrade their eyes, ears or whatever they wanted and the others could not, we have a problem of evolution. Young people, even if they wanted to disengage from technology, technology would not let them do it so easily.”

The poll conducted on the order of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in 10 Balkan countries is yet to be fully analyzed, Parvan Simeonov adds. It is being analyzed by the Ivan Hadzhiiski Institute and in Bulgaria it has been conducted by Gallup International.

“What I can say now is that there are curious levels of national sentiments. We have tested the attitude towards two provocative statements: ‘I am proud to be a citizen of my country’ and ‘it is nice for my country to be inhabited only by real Bulgarians.’ Young Bulgarians ranked first in the Balkans in agreeing with both statements. There is a patriotic feeling existing, reaching levels even beyond patriotism. Maybe this is because of trends in the Western world or perhaps because Bulgaria has not recently fought over these issues in contrast to other Balkan countries. The good thing is that the national feeling grows together with the European one. In Bulgaria there is clearly no room for Euroscepticism, nor for national nihilism, i.e. Bulgarians would hardly denounce Europe and would also not disclaim their country.”

English: Alexander Markov