Among European Union member-states, Bulgaria has the highest proportion of people who live in severe material deprivation, and it also tops the rankings on income inequality. These disturbing indicators reflect alarming tendencies that in effect annihilate dignified life – and sometimes life itself – for large groups of people. Such poverty undoubtedly erodes the social fabric, and is commonly considered a key factor in the rise of support for far-right ideologies replete with xenophobia and racism. The fight against poverty and inequality then increasingly appears as both a form of moral duty for the betterment of real human lives, and a matter of political urgency, if we were to preserve social cohesion and ‹fight extremism›.
