ABSTRACT
Vigilante activities against ethnic minorities and migrants in Bulgaria have occurred intermittently since the fall of the socialist regime in 1989. Two types of vigilantism can be distinguished in the country – ad-hoc and organized vigilante activities. Instances of ad-hoc vigilantism generally lack significant pre-meditation as they are often a reaction to (alleged) criminal activity by representatives of a vilified community. This type of vigilantism tends more often to be associated with violence. On the other hand, organizations from the far-right spectrum have often been the driving forces behind more durable forms of organized vigilantism. Until 2013, the Roma have been the most important target of such activities. The roots of anti-Roma vigilantism can be traced to the transition period, which was marked by social, economic and political crisis, which had profound effect on the majority ethnic Bulgarian population, but even more so on the Roma, leading to their further marginalization. More recently, political unrest in the country during the period 2013–2015 allowed for the revival of the populist far-right. At the same time, the intensification of the migrant crisis in 2013 provided another community which conveniently could be construed as an existential threat. The migratory pressure fuelled the establishment of new formations whose primary activities included vigilante border patrols targeted at irregular migrants. These formations managed to gather significant popular support for their activities at the height of the crisis. However, after the dissipation of the migrant flow in 2017, these organizations’ attempts to remain relevant proved largely unsuccessful.
