Evelina Staykova

Although populist parties and movements have increased their electoral influ- ence for many years, the economic crises in the Eurozone, as well as the re- cent refugee crisis, have given new impetus to this trend. Both Eurosceptic and anti-elitist discourse, well reflecting broad public attitudes and opinions, fuels populist parties and movements that are becoming increasingly visible in the political arena of the Member-states and at the European level. The aim of this text is to analyze anti-elitism as one of the main characteristics of populism in the context of the mutually reinforcing crises in the EU.

In the 2016 presidential elections, there were 21 presidential candidates, for more than half them it was clear that they had no real chance to be elected. This article analyzes what motivates these candidates to get into the presidential race. For this purpose, a proposal of a typology of the candidates and their campaigns was made. Special zoom was put on Veselin Mareshki, whose participation in this election was both underestimated, but also a request for a more stable place on the political scene.