On the evening of November 9, half a dozen heavily intoxicated Bulgarian skinheads set out for a house in the center of the capital, Sofia, where a group of Syrian refugees had found shelter. They broke its front door and windows, and when driven away by the frightened inhabitants they vented their rage on an ethnic Turkish Bulgarian who happened to be passing nearby—and whom they later said they mistook for a Syrian—sending him to the hospital with a badly fractured skull and multiple other injuries. A group of locals sitting at a nearby cafe called the police as they watched the victim’s blood splash on the pavement, but according to local news only one bystander attempted, unsuccessfully, to intervene.

Xenophobic attacks such as this one have become an almost daily reality in Bulgaria, where political and economic turmoil have created a widespread crisis of confidence. With more than six months of continuous daily protests in front of the Parliament, students barricaded in Sofia’s main university since October, and a rising tide of ultranationalism and intolerance, many fear that the European Union’s poorest member will collapse.

The underperforming economy has continued to take a beating, as both the National Electric Company and the National Health Insurance Fund are on the verge of bankruptcy and the specter of deflation hangs over the country. “It simply isn’t possible to make any long-term plans in this situation,” says Boyan Benev, a 29-year old entrepreneur, author, and TV host based in Sofia. “The situation has worsened greatly in the last few months—people have become alienated, one from another, making it harder to work and plan together. It will take years to return to where we were not long ago.”

That alienation has led to profound dysfunction, and a rise in extremism. “Bulgarian society is sliding down the spiral of institutional and political collapse,” sociologists from the Sofia-based polling agency Alpha Research concluded in November, noting that only 19 percent of Bulgarians surveyed said they had faith in the executive branch of government. Lawmakers and constitutional court judges only garnered 11 percent and 12 percent, respectively, and all the major parties were losing ground—with the exception of the far-right.

Ultranationalism has been on the rise in Bulgaria since at least 2005, when a far-right party, Ataka, won seats in Parliament for the first time in more than six decades. But the recent arrival of several thousand Syrian refugees into a country already riven by severe economic and political crises has created a perfect storm. Ultranationalist parties—including a brand new one with alleged neo-Nazi ties that just popped up last month—have seized the opportunity, rallying for the expulsion of all refugees and organizing “citizen patrols” to intimidate foreigners.