Further protests have erupted in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, against the country’s minority government and its failure to tackle corruption, Reuters reports.
Thousands of people gathered in Sofia and other Bulgarian cities on the evening of the 10th of December, marking the latest wave of protests that have swept the country as it prepares to join the eurozone on the 1st of January. Protesters used lasers to shine slogans such as “Resignation,” “Mafia Out” and “For Fair Elections” on the parliament building.
Dobri Lakov, a 64-year-old Sofia resident, said he believed the energy of the people would force the government to resign because many reforms were needed. He pointed out that reforms in the justice system are needed first: “If the judicial system is fixed, everything else will fall into place, absolutely everything.”
The Bulgarian parliament will hold a vote of confidence in the government of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov on the 11th of December.
This will be the sixth such vote since the government was approved on the 15th of January.
In early December, the government withdrew its 2026 budget plan after widespread protests. It was Bulgaria’s first budget in the euro. Opposition parties and various organizations have said they are protesting against a plan to increase social contributions and taxes on dividends to cover large state spending.
Despite the withdrawal of the budget plan, protests have continued. Bulgaria has held seven elections in the past four years, and there are deep political and social divisions.
One protester said it was high time for normalcy to return to Bulgaria, and that it was time to get rid of the oligarchs, the mafia and the forces that represent them.
The Bulgarian news agency BTA reported that former prime minister and leader of the ruling GERB party, Boyko Borisov, said that the coalition partners had agreed not to back down before Bulgaria joins the eurozone on the 1st of January.
Read also: Tsikhanouskaya’s office plans to move from Vilnius to Warsaw