Thousands protest corruption and demand judicial reform in Bulgaria
Thousands of Bulgarians rallied against the departing government on Thursday night. They want fair elections and changes to the court system to fight what they say is widespread corruption in the EU’s least wealthy member state.
As Bulgaria gets ready to start using the euro on January 1, there are protests in the capital Sofia and several other towns and cities across the country. They’re part of an ongoing series of events.
The outgoing government had been in charge since January and was planning to manage the transition to the euro. However, after weeks of protests against state corruption and a new budget that would have raised taxes, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov resigned last week, and his government quit.
On Thursday, protesters held the flags of Bulgaria and the EU. “This is not farce,” read one sign.
It’s all very shameless, even the parts about it (the government). Without shame. “This government is like that because they act so arrogantly,” said 48-year-old salesman Shisman Nikolov.
People who think they are better than everyone else are not admired by society.
President Rumen Radev is talking with parties about forming a government. If they refuse or fail to do so, he will name a temporary government and call a snap election.
As a result of the inability of successive governments to maintain control of a divided parliament, Bulgaria, a member of NATO, has had seven national elections over the last four years.
21-year-old student Kalina Yurukova said, “You must think you are better than everyone else if you steal all the time.” I can’t accept or be around people who are like that—proud, shameless, and without a trace of shame.
Earlier this month, the government pulled its 2026 budget plan, which was the first to be written in euros, because of the large protests. They were against the plan to raise social security contributions and taxes on earnings in order to pay for more state spending, according to opposition parties and other groups.
