site.btaDecember 7, 1989: Union of Democratic Forces Founded

Thirty-five years ago today, the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) was founded as a coalition of parties and organizations in Bulgaria. The founders are: the Glasnost and Democracy Club, the EcoGlasnost Independent Association, the Podkrepa Independent Federation of Labour, the Independent Society for Human Rights, the Committee for the Protection of Religious Rights, the Freedom of Conscience and Spiritual Values, the Club of the Unlawfully Repressed after 1945, the Independent Student Society, the Civic Initiative Movement, the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party (united), and the Nikola Petkov Bulgarian Agrarian National Union.

Later on several more parties joined UDF: the Radical Democratic Party, the Green Party and the Democratic Party, the New Social Democratic Party, the United Democratic Centre and the Democratic Front.

Zhelyu Zhelev (1935-2015), who was to become Bulgaria's first democratically elected President, was elected the Union's first Coordination Council Chairman. At its 9th National Conference on February 15-16, 1997, UDF became a political party.

On the occasion of UDF's 35th anniversary, on December 7, 2024, UDF leader Rumen Hristov said: "Only good things can be said about UDF; of course we have made mistakes, but what matters is what we have achieved. UDF is the party that changed Bulgaria, overthrew communism, established the multi-party system, brought back freedom of speech, introduced the market economy, which was a prerequisite for the country's accession to the EU.

"I have been asked about UDF's clout today. My answer is that it cannot be quantified, it is measured by all the things I have listed, by the impetus of people who believe in democracy."