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The Biden administration's decision to sanction three high-profile Bulgarian power brokers landed like a bombshell in the Balkan country and has major political implications.

Why it matters: The sanctions were the first major action Biden has taken to fight global corruption, which he has said will be a major foreign policy priority. They were also the largest-ever single action taken under the Global Magnitsky Act.

The big picture: Bulgaria is considered the European Union's most corrupt member state, and former prime minister Boyko Borissov — who has dominated the Bulgarian politics for the past decade — faced protests last year over his alleged mafia ties. 

The protesters seized on Borissov's alleged links to Delyan Peevski, one of the figures blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury.

Peevski is a powerful businessman, former member of the parliament and media mogul who once owned 80% of the Bulgarian print media.

Even though Peevski sold many of his real estate and media holdings in the past year, he has strong influence on Bulgaria's politics and judiciary.

Peevski “has regularly engaged in corruption, using influence peddling and bribes to protect himself from public scrutiny and exert control over key institutions and sectors in Bulgarian society,” the Treasury Department said in its statement. Peevski denied the U.S. allegations. 

The Treasury also sanctioned Ilko Zhelyazkov, the former deputy chief of Bulgaria's covert intelligence-gathering service, for allegedly working with Peevski "to bribe government officials through various means in exchange for their information and loyalty."

The third man facing sanctions is Vassil Bozhkov, a former gambling and soccer boss, art dealer and one of Bulgaria’s richest men. 

Known by the nickname “The Skull,” he is currently in Dubai to evade Bulgarian extradition on a number of charges levied in 2020, including leading an organized crime group, coercion, attempted bribery of an official, and tax evasion. 

The Treasury Department accused Bozhkov of bribing government officials including "a current political leader," leading to intense speculation in Bulgaria about which political leader that might be. 

Borrisov denied any links to Bozhkov and Peevski and said he welcomed the sanctions.

Six people and 64 companies linked to them were sanctioned in total by the Treasury and State Departments on Wednesday.

What's next: The news has dominated media coverage in Bulgaria since it emerged, and will likely play a role in the snap parliamentary elections on July 11, which will determine whether Borrisov can keep power.

Go deeper: Watergate-style scandal rocks Bulgaria ahead of election

U.S. sanctions Bulgarian power brokers for corruption

The sanctions could affect Bulgaria's upcoming elections.

Delyan Peevsk in parliament in 2013. Photo: Nikolay Doychinov/AFP via Getty

Bulgaria

The Biden administration&#x27;s decision to sanction three high-profile Bulgarian power brokers landed like a bombshell in the Balkan country and has major political implications.Why it matters: The sanctions were the first major action Biden has taken to fight global corruption, which he has said will be a major foreign policy priority. They were also the largest-ever single action taken under the Global Magnitsky Act.

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

Reproduced from Our World in Data; Chart: Axios Visuals

While most countries in the European Union have raced ahead after a slow initial vaccine rollout, countries in Eastern Europe are far behind, with little prospect of catching up quickly. 

The state of play: While 39% of people across the EU have had at least one dose, just 12% have in Bulgaria, the lowest rate among the 27 member states. The situation is even more difficult for non-EU members that don’t have access to the bloc’s bulk vaccine purchases. 

Bulgaria, the EU's poorest member, declined to order its full share of Pfizer/BioNTech jabs under the EU's procurement scheme, relying mainly on AstraZeneca shots that are cheaper and easier to store.

But Bulgaria suspended the AstraZeneca rollout in March after the death of a women who received the vaccine, before resuming it with added restrictions.

Vaccine hesitancy is also a major problem. Just 18% of Bulgarians wanted to be vaccinated right away as of February, according to a Eurobarometer poll, while 64% thought the vaccines had been approved too quickly to ensure their safety. Conspiracy theories about the vaccine have spread widely in the country.

The big picture: Bulgaria is actually far ahead of non-EU neighbors like North Macedonia, where just 4.5% of the population — primarily health workers and the elderly — have received a first shot, mostly from supplies shared by Serbia and Russia.

The situation is similar in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is relying on the WHO-backed COVAX initiative for its doses. They've been slow to arrive, and Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the last countries to start its vaccination program. 

Between the lines: Geopolitical factors have made a big difference for some countries in central and eastern Europe.

Serbia was far ahead of even most EU countries on vaccinations for months, with supplies mainly coming from China and Russia, with which Serbia has friendly relations. 

Serbia even has sufficient supply to begin to share — President Aleksandar Vucic announced Thursday that residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be able to receive free vaccinations in Serbia as well.

Ukraine, on the other hand, ruled out approval of the Sputnik V vaccine, seeing Russia's "vaccine diplomacy" as an unwelcome power play. 

Ukraine has been one of the hardest-hit European countries during the pandemic, but just 2.4% of the population has been vaccinated. President Biden announced on Thursday that Ukraine would be one of the countries to receive vaccine donations from the US.

What's next: The European Union has promised to ship over half a million COVID-19 shots to the Western Balkans by August, using for the first time a vaccine-sharing mechanism meant to help its poorer neighbors and counter Chinese and Russian influence.

Eastern European countries fall way behind on vaccinations

There's a big gap in Europe's vaccination rates.

COVID-19 vaccines

While most countries in the European Union have raced ahead after a slow initial vaccine rollout, countries in Eastern Europe are far behind, with little prospect of catching up quickly. The state of play: While 39% of people across the EU have had at least one dose, just 12% have in Bulgaria, the lowest rate among the 27 member states. The situation is even more difficult for non-EU members that don’t have access to the bloc’s bulk vaccine purchases.

Residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina are desperate for vaccines, but a promise of help from Serbia has left them with a dilemma: receive a vaccine from a former enemy, or wait months to get one at home.

Driving the news: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's announced earlier this month that residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be able to receive free vaccinations in Serbia. Bosnia is otherwise relying on donations and the WHO-backed COVAX initiative. So far just 7.6% of the population has had even one dose.

It is estimated that more residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina have now been vaccinated in Serbia than in their own country, says Bosnian journalist Mladen Obrenovic, who has been covering the pandemic.

But some refuse to go. "I can assume that the reasons are related to the war," Obrenovic says.

The big picture: Around 100,000 people were killed during the Bosnian War (1992-1995). More than half those killed were Bosniaks, many of whom were victims of ethnic cleansing.

During the war, Belgrade backed a bid by Bosnian Serbs to form their own mini-state and unite with Serbia. Some Serbian leaders and commanders were later charged with war crimes.

What they're saying: Dzeneta Saric says she was ten years old when her father was “killed in captivity by Serbian soldiers."

"But I had no choice now but to get vaccinated in Serbia," she tells Axios. She says she would always "choose my country," and that meant getting vaccinated even if the only option was to do so in Serbia.

Saric traveled more than 5 hours by car from Sarajevo to Novi Pazar, Serbia for her Pfizer-BioNTech shot. She might otherwise have had to wait until next year, she says, a risky proposition since her work as a journalist requires frequent in-person interaction.

The other side: Imran Bezdrob, who at 23 is too young to have experienced the war, compared getting vaccinated in Serbia to switching teams in a football match.

“I see a lot of people are going to Serbia to receive the vaccine, for me it is not ok," he tells Axios. "I think it would be better to wait in my country and to have a shot in my country."

Bezdrob, who is a personal trainer, said he got coronavirus last year and would now wait his turn, though he complained that the rollout was too slow and the government hadn't done much to improve it.

Between the lines: Thanks in part to supplies from China and Russia, Serbia has been far ahead of even most EU countries for months, with 35.3% of the country now fully vaccinated. 

Serbia has started donating vaccines to other neighboring nations, including Montenegro and North Macedonia.

What’s next: The Bosnian government announced on Thursday that it is expecting more than 500,000 vaccines from the U.S. in July as part of the Biden administration's first wave of donations.

Bosnians' vaccine dilemma: Wait months or take help from a former foe

Serbia has offered Bosnians free access to vaccines.

A Bosnian citizen gets vaccinated in Belgrade. Photo:  Oliver Bunic/AFP via Getty

Eastern Europe

Residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina are desperate for vaccines, but a promise of help from Serbia has left them with a dilemma: receive a vaccine from a former enemy, or wait months to get one at home.Driving the news: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic&#x27;s announced earlier this month that residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be able to receive free vaccinations in Serbia. Bosnia is otherwise relying on donations and the WHO-backed COVAX initiative. So far just 7.6% of the population has had even one dose.

Sunday's snap parliamentary elections in Bulgaria pit the man who has dominated the Balkan country's politics for a decade against an insurgent party led by a popular TV host.

The big picture: Former longtime Prime Minister Boyko Borissov failed to form a government after an inconclusive election in April, which followed massive protests last year over corruption and Borissov's alleged mafia ties.

Since the election, the Biden administration has sanctioned three Bulgarian power brokers for corruption, denting Borissov's support further.

The other side: That has left a major opening for political newcomers like Slavi Trifonov, sometimes referred to as the Bulgarian David Letterman.

Trifonov's "There is Such a People" party now has 21.8% support versus 21.5% for Borissov's GERB party, according to a poll released Thursday by Alpha Research.

Known to Bulgarians simply as “Slavi,” the 6.6-foot showman is a folk-pop musician, producer and actor, but he's best known for his late-night program “Slavi’s Show."

Before previous elections, Trifonov interviewed all the leading candidates, including Borissov. Now he is using his own cable channel, launched in 2019, as a platform to criticize other politicians and promote his own party.

He became a major political player in 2016 when he spearheaded a referendum campaign to reform Bulgaria's electoral system. The reforms won a clear majority of voters but fell 12,000 votes short of the threshold to make the result binding — an outcome Trifonov denounced as a “monstrous fraud.”

He's now set to become the latest TV star to parlay his fame and outsider appeal into political power, following former President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Borissov is a colorful figure in his own right.

A former bodyguard to Bulgaria's last communist leader, he projects the image of a man of the people.

But he has had to fend off a number of scandals, including when photos surfaced last year appearing to show him sleeping next to a handgun, stacks of cash and gold bars. He claimed the photos may have been staged or doctored.

What’s next: Despite leading the two top parties, Borissov and Trifonov have both said they won't serve as prime minister if their party wins. Both are considered likely candidates for the presidency in the fall, though that role is less powerful.

Some observers fear another inconclusive election could further strain Bulgaria's democracy.

TV star's party takes poll lead ahead of Bulgaria's election

The race pits a strongman against a celebrity.

Larger than life: Trifonov sings at a campaign concert/rally. Photo: Nikolay Doychinov/AFP via Getty

Corruption concerns shape politics in Central and Eastern Europe

Voters tend to think the situation is getting worse.

Anti-corruption protests in Bulgaria last October. Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Corruption

Corruption is a growing concern for voters in Europe, with respondents across the 27 EU member states twice as likely to think it&#x27;s getting worse (32%) in their country than getting better (16%), according to a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Transparency International survey" data-vars-click-url="https://link.axios.com/click/24183592.9336/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWFnZXMudHJhbnNwYXJlbmN5Y2RuLm9yZy9pbWFnZXMvVElfR0NCX0VVXzIwMjFfd2ViXzIwMjEtMDYtMTQtMTUxNzU4LnBkZj91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249bmV3c2xldHRlcl9heGlvc3dvcmxkJnN0cmVhbT13b3JsZA/58af12c227fdb0d83d8b51d9B1e9cc191" data-vars-content-id="e9b3e756-c403-45eb-ba21-b8347cdfff79" data-vars-headline="Corruption concerns shape politics in Central and Eastern Europe" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://link.axios.com/click/24183592.9336/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWFnZXMudHJhbnNwYXJlbmN5Y2RuLm9yZy9pbWFnZXMvVElfR0NCX0VVXzIwMjFfd2ViXzIwMjEtMDYtMTQtMTUxNzU4LnBkZj91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249bmV3c2xldHRlcl9heGlvc3dvcmxkJnN0cmVhbT13b3JsZA/58af12c227fdb0d83d8b51d9B1e9cc191" target="_blank">Transparency International survey</a>.The big picture: As you move south and east, the concerns grow more acute. Huge majorities in countries like Croatia (92%), Bulgaria (90%) and Slovenia (84%) view corruption as a big problem versus 16% in Finland and 12% in Denmark.

Teodora Trifonova

Stories

TV star's party takes poll lead ahead of Bulgaria's election

Bosnians' vaccine dilemma: Wait months or take help from a former foe

Corruption concerns shape politics in Central and Eastern Europe

U.S. sanctions Bulgarian power brokers for corruption

Eastern European countries fall way behind on vaccinations