The *Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Bulgarian National Movement* or IMRO–BNM (Bulgarian: VMRO – Balgarsko natsionalno dvizhenie) is a far-right political party in Bulgaria led by Krasimir Karakachanov. It claims to be the successor to the historic Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. The IMRO describes itself as a conservative and patriotic party based on modern nationalism. It defines itself as a “pan-Bulgarian national movement” aiming at “spiritual unity of the Bulgarian nation”. It is known as a strongly nationalist and Orthodox Christian party which claims to continue the mission of the historic *IMRO* and strives for the recognition of the Bulgarian character of the majority population of the Republic of North Macedonia.
The IMRO is staunchly socially conservative and adamantly opposes same-sex marriage, even going as far as to propose additional amendments to Bulgaria’s constitution to preemptively block any gay marriage law from being passed in the future.
During the 2020–2021 Bulgarian protests, the IMRO attempted to put the topic of gender (through the anti-LGBT trope of gender ideology) at the forefront over the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria and the protests themselves in an attempt to increase its political legitimacy. Reporter Milana Nikolova wrote that gender “took a new meaning in the Bulgarian vernacular and overnight became a slur aimed at non-binary, gender-nonconforming, or at times even any person perceived to be LGBT+.” Party leaders have also expressed the opinion that the protests were organized by “a few Sorosoidite NGOs and extra-parliamentary political parties hungry for power”, claiming that the goal of the protests, in his view, was to “bring about gay marriage” and “create a gender republic”, which they entirely disagreed with. Similarly, it also proposed constitutional amendments that would ban people without a certain level of academic qualifications from voting in elections or referendums, as well as amendments that would bring back mandatory conscription for all males.
The IMRO expresses an antiziganist or anti-romani worldview, proposing a “solution to the problem of unsocialized romani groups”, which included a destruction of Romani ghettoes, penal labour, restriction of social benefits and limiting births among younger Romani. Likewise, it is aggressive of Bulgarian Turks and unwelcoming of Islam in Bulgaria, calling on the government to “stop the sounds of terror coming from minarets”.
