At the beginning of the 90’s, the freshly collapsed Soviet union announced the start of a new era for Bulgaria. A social, political and cultural liberation for a nation craving for freedom.

A very preserved nature, a large sea coast perfect for tourism, and a population full of personality. The futur seemed prosper.
More than twenty years later, it s hard to deny that the country had barely evolved in a good way. The population amount has been going down for almost a third in twenty-five years, most of the elite and the promising youth migrated out of the country, and the few Bulgarians left are getting old and are in a loss of identity.
The nowadays retired people are the people that stayed in Bulgaria 25 years ago. They didn’t have the choice. And then, more capitalism is growing in the country, more their pensions are getting symbolic and their financial capabilities tight.Today, the luckiest ones have some family in occidental countries, that can somehow help them financially. The others are trying to survive as they can, sometimes nostalgic about the socialism.

Many of them are working again, while others are begging in the streets and even sometimes stealing or looking in the trashes to feed themselves.  In the poorest country of the UE, meet the former rising stars of the nation that became the fallen ones. [Official Website]