Thousands of protesters rallied on Wednesday evening in opposition to alleged corruption in Bulgaria.
The initial requests from the protesters demanded the immediate resignations of several high-profile politicians in the country, including General Prosecutor Borislav Sarafov, ex-PM and current GERB leader Boyko Borisov, and high profile oligarch Delyan Peevski.
Peevski and Borisov have been in highly influential positions in the country for the last decade and both have been accused of various corruption scandals.
Protestors quickly filled the streets of Sofia on Wednesday with the protest starting their march at the National Assembly building, leading through the main streets until Orlov Most, where Peevski’s offices are located.
PP-DB, the coalition party consisting of We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, confirmed they would push for a vote of no-confidence in Sarafov’s leadership as he had not taken steps to resign.
The protest demanded further action, saying: “If we have to, we will block the entire country in order to remove this government.
“Peevski’s song has ended, and citizens will remember what he has done.”
Claims of corruption and a two-tier justice system were discussed, with protestors telling Politics Global: “There are two Bulgarias. One pays taxes and struggles to survive; the other lives off corruption. We protest because we refuse to finance parasites”. “Freedom” they shouted for nearly a minute.
The protest organizers insisted that the problem does not stop with Borisov or Peevski themselves, as “Borisov may retire soon, but there will be new Borisovs and new Peevskis. This country has been captured by parasites”. PP-DB MPs made it clear: “We have been patient for too long. This time, there won’t be patience. And there shouldn’t be”.
In 2013, Borisov’s first government collapsed as mass protests erupted, originally due to concerns over a monopolistic policy in the energy sector, leading to extremely high energy costs for residents. These protests would later expand to include other aspects of Borisov’s first government and further political monopolies.
Despite his first government collapsing, he was able to regain power on two occasions, but his cabinet collapsed again in 2021, amid further protests. The corruption charges in 2021 were more serious, with public funds allegedly taken to finance a villa in Barcelona.
Yet, despite Boykov Borisov not being formally in power (only as leader of the opposition, GERB), he continues to control several cities, like Plovdiv, where mayors of his party are in power.
Peevski’s political troubles are similar, marred with corruption and monopoly accusations due to his role as a Bulgarian media mogul, and a number of fraud and embezzlement cases, as well as accusations of paying off judges to avoid persecution. He also has strong political ties to GERB, financing the party heavily.
One of the focuses of the protests was clear: Corrupt politicians which have “captured” the institutions should not be anywhere near power: “The current government has tried to go against the European courts, to stop European law from being applied in Bulgaria”.
Emil Georgiev, a renowned lawyer in Bulgaria, insisted on the dangers of letting the guard down: “This is a soft dictatorship, one that lies and is hypocritical, but a dictatorship nonetheless”. The speeches took an emotional turn, calling to “fight for the country, because this same country once called for ‘Freedom or Death’. This country has become a kleptocracy, slowly prepared to become a dictatorship’.
PP-DB MP Bogdan Bogdanov, from Pleven, warned about the danger of GERB-influenced cities, arguing that they have siphoned off wealth and growth from their towns, with Bogdanov saying: “Our city had 180,000 people, now barely 80,000. They tried to bury the future of my children.”
Pleven recently made the headlines as one of the most-impacted cities by drought and water shortages, with the local administrators, GERB and the government, being blamed for failing to upgrade water pipelines in the region.
Though Pleven is the most famous case of it, Bogdanov also said: “This is not the only city. Shumen is also among the worst-hit, where the water cuts are even worse”.
A 85-year old man, of the name of *Nikolay, from Sofia, expressed his discontent with a poster which read: “I like to eat pork, but I don’t like swine in politics”, referring to Peevski.
Surprised to see one of the oldest participants, I asked him why he was protesting: “I’m here for the young people”, he told us.
The protest was staged on the first day that MPs returned to work with the first plenary session of autumn, following the summer holidays. PP-DB MPs reminded supporters and protestors that “the next days will be crucial, they will decide the future of our country”.
