On the eve of every New Year we try to learn from past failures, to thank for graciousness, leave away unnecessary burden and wisen up. We close a page and move on to the unknown. We wish to be healthy, to be able to achieve our goals in personal or professional terms, to become better people.

In the early hours of the leap 2020 we tried to find out what the attitudes and expectations of Bulgarians for the New Year were. Although the lack of opportunities is a big obstacle for many, the faded hope for a positive change in Bulgaria continues to exist.

“I do not expect anything better to happen, seeing how things are going now. I do not have any good expectations,” a woman aged about 60 told us, who has been finding happiness in the well-being of her family. “At a personal level, all I want is my children and grandchildren to be alive and well.”

Whether because of the fact that after a 30-year- long transition, Bulgarians are still unable to reach the standard of living of other EU countries, or because of deepening social injustice at a global level, respondents' answers are varying and dependent on various factors. Younger people often see their professional development outside Bulgaria because of the low remuneration and the mistrust in politicians, governing this country.

“I do not have any expectations... I just want 2020 to be better than the previous year,” a young man from Sofia says. “In professional terms 2019 was better for me than the previous one, so I hope progress would continue in 2020. As far as Bulgaria is concerned and the way I see things over the last few years, I do not think that there is something nice coming. I used to have a little hope and that's why I'm still here. I studied in England before I came back and now I am working here, but if things didn't work out and I left again, I would not be thinking about returning to Bulgaria at all.”

Bulgarian students are more optimistic and their wishes are mainly related to their studies:

“2019 was a good year for me,” says 20-year-old Ivaylo. “When it comes for the New Year, I expect to pass the exams successfully. I want to keep developing and also to find out if I chose my studies right.”

“I wish 2020 to be a calm and peaceful year, without many incidents. Overall, 2019 had been quite successful in personal and professional terms and I hope things keep going this way,” Katya says.

Expectations for 2020 of university lecturer and demographer Georgi Burdarov (Head of the Department of Socio-Economic Geography at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski") are also optimistic:

“I'm a positive person. Both my personal, professional and community expectations are positive! At the end of each year we say farewell to something we did not like. For me 2019 was a successful year both in personal and professional terms. I think it was a successful year for Bulgaria in general. In demographic terms, in order to look for something positive, we should say that there is a slight, almost invisible and unstable general trend of Bulgarians returning to their home country from abroad, which for me is the most important thing when dealing with the demographic crisis.”

In general, the wishes of Bulgarians for 2020 can be summed up with the words of Nadezhda Pavlova:

“I wish for a peaceful and calm year for all people. I wish them life, a lot of happiness and prosperity, as well as being a little bit more intelligent and better persons!”

And if these well-wishes had the ability to turn life towards goodness, then maybe the positive changes that we are hoping for, would become a reality.

English: Alexander Markov