A soaring mast in the mountains of southern Bulgaria has made the EU's poorest country the home of the bloc's tallest flagpole, filling some with pride – and drawing scorn from others.

Nationalism and populism are on the rise in the Balkan nation, where many remain strongly Russophile despite Moscow's attack on Ukraine.

The immense 1,110-square-meter flag, meant to symbolize Bulgaria's territory of 111,000 square kilometers, was hoisted up the record-breaking 111-meter pole last week in a forest meadow in the Rhodope mountains.

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With it Bulgaria takes the flagpole crown from Finland – which has a 100-meter one – though it doesn't approach the heights of some outside Europe, which are almost twice as high.

"This won't make Bulgarians richer but it will raise people's spirits," said Simeon Karakolev, 45, the organizer of an historic annual folk festival at Rozhen, whose foundation is behind the project.

Karakolev raised $560,000 in donations for the pole in a campaign embraced by Bulgaria's pro-Russian President Rumen Radev.

Local media said that a number of public companies were approached on Radev's behalf to donate money for the mast on the mountain meadow where the festival is held.

Marred by controversy

The campaign was widely mocked on social media, with one meme depicting the president swinging on the pole going viral, while many said a country wracked with high emigration and a crumbling health system had more urgent concerns than collecting funds for a massive flag mast.

Political scientist Ognyan Minchev lamented how patriotism had been hijacked by "leaders who measure national pride by the height of a flag mast... quasi-nationalists dominated by Russian propaganda."

A recent Open Society Foundation study found Bulgaria was among the EU countries most susceptible to Russian propaganda and disinformation.

The concrete poured for the flagpole's foundations on the pristine mountain meadows, and alleged irregularities with its permits, also sparked calls from environmentalists to ban it. A petition against it collected thousands of signatures.

Karakolev said this was "undeserved hate" and thanked authorities for not "backing down to pressure as checks showed everything is perfectly legal."

Radev slammed "dishonorable attempts to denigrate and break this initiative" as he and Karakolev inaugurated the structure with shouts of "Long live Bulgaria!"

'I felt unwell’

Several thousand people of all ages, many in national costumes, gathered for the ceremony ahead of the three-day annual festival, taking the chance to touch the gigantic flag before it went up.

"Yes, some people don't like it... (but) there are flags in every country. They are one of the symbols of a nation," said reserve army colonel Dimitar Mitev, 69, adding that he hoped this initiative would boost patriotism.

Others were less positive.

"I felt unwell when I saw this rod sticking out of the ground in the middle of the meadows and the surrounding forests. This is human interference in nature," said business consultant Sofia Botusharova, 38, from the nearby town of Chepelare.

Still, thousands of phone screens lit up the night as the cheering crowd waited for the flag to be hoisted. But when the big moment came, there was disappointment – as the lack of a breeze left it hanging listlessly from the pole.

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Animation: James Sandifer