The arrest was unsuccessful and Bozhkov managed to escape to the United Arab Emirates. For more than 100 days, thousands of Bulgarians have been coming together in the streets to demand the resignations of Boyko Borissov’s third government and General … The Bulgarian elite is deeply divided and warring factions wield their power over the state as a weapon against their competitors. Bulgaria protests: what is to be known? During the COVID-19 lockdown, Bozhkov decided to counterattack the government, which has also been key for the appointment of that Prosecutor General and has him function like a politician rather than a part of the prosecution. That is why it is great news that left-wing forces are also part of the protest. In early 2020, when little was known about the virus and it seemed like a localized problem, the protest surge that had marked the second half of 2019 continued. Notwithstanding the vague promise of resignation, the protesters were infuriated. Protesters say the move was a sign of toxic links between the ruling elite and shady interests in the Balkan country. Dimitar Bechev, a … By The Associated Press. Dozens Gather in St. Paul to March Against Fascism in Protest-Response Training Center, Protesters in Ft. 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He tried to redirect public attention to his proposed “new constitution” and the firing of the Finance, Economics, Tourism, and Internal Affairs Ministers. It is increasingly time-consuming to do so, and donations would be very appreciated. © 2021 Protests.media – All rights reserved, Powered by  – Designed with the Customizr theme. The 2020–2021 Belarusian protests are a series of ongoing political demonstrations and protests against the Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko. Candid photographs of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov sleeping in his bedroom next to a drawer packed full of 500-euro bills, gold bars and a gun were leaked to the media. Dozens of people were detained and hurt in Bulgaria as protests against Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s government erupted in violent clashes with police. The failure of the arrest only contributed to Geshev’s unpopularity with the Bulgarian people. Without the notion of social justice to supplement the liberal ideas about rule of law and judicial reform, the lofty calls for justice animating the protest stand a lesser chance of resonating with the majority of the Bulgarian population, whose main concern is socioeconomic survival. After that, it was made public that a shady businessman and ex-politician, Ahmen Doğan had stolen land from the state and even had State Defense Services guarding the stolen land for him. The winter was marked by a water crisis caused by the drying up of several dams, the most serious of which took place in the town of Pernik, 45km southwest of Sofia. The war against corruption must also be a battle over definitions. The explanations police chiefs later gave about this unheard-of deployment of police force caused an outcry and fuelled conspiracy narratives that the police had let the provocateurs off the hook to have an excuse to attack the protesters. Bulgaria is gripped by its biggest political crisis since 2013, when anticorruption protests brought down a center-left government. A photo was also discovered of Borissov in his bedroom which was confirmed to be real by independent groups. It also removed constitutional guarantees for the equality between men and women replacing them with pro-natalist and “family values” paragraphs. ... Barzachka, looked at why officeholders ignore peaceful demonstrations by comparing five major protests in Bulgaria … July 15, 2020, 7:45 AM. Following that, a recording was received showing Borissov saying “we need to hit that businessman and smash his face in because he does not respect me”, which was confirmed to be real by an American laboratory. In response to the demonstrations, a … The Barricade talks to one of the preferred commentators of the 2020 protests in Bulgaria in the internatinal press The Barricade’s Boyan Stanislavski made an intreview with Jana Tsoneva – one of the leading commentors on the Bulgarian protests in the international press. Despite the liberal views professed by its organisers, the protest attracted people from across the political spectrum, including President Radev’s supporters from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), BSP splinters, the extra-parliamentary and the radical left, not to mention apolitical hipsters, artists and even turbo-folk singers. Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by David Clarke and Leslie Adler Bulgaria is gripped in a political crisis, its biggest since 2013 , when sustained protests against corruption brought down a center-left government. Riot police and anti-government protesters faced off outside parliament with both sides suffering injuries. In the evening, however, some protesters thought to be paid provocateurs, started throwing small fireworks at the police, which eventually provoked a violent response, as officers launched into the crowd, beating people with batons and using tear gas and water cannon. Bulgaria looks set for a series of large-scale anti-government protests, highlighting the political crisis in the country and the numerous conflicts between the main figures on the scene. So what led to these dramatic events and what is next for the Bulgarian protest movement? Then a series of scandals revealed corrupt schemes involving lucrative property along the Black Sea coast. Despite the boost the liberal coalition of Hristo Ivanov got from the protests, it is unlikely that the party will solve this problem within the narrow legalistic reform framework it proposes (judicial reform and depoliticisation of the general prosecution). Updated 4:18 PM ET, Wed July 15, 2020 . But the violent change of positions within the ruling elite and the elimination of competitors erodes the state. Photo: Circlephoto / Shutterstock. At the beginning of 2020, Bulgaria appointed a new Prosecutor General, Ivan Geshev, an official viewed very unfavorably even before his appointment. The PG had a record of stating his opposition to the separation of powers in the government between legislative, executive, and judicial. Then came the coronavirus pandemic and the government’s abysmal handling of the situation, which saw doctors resigning due to the lack of protective gear and inadequate emergency measures in place. Police violence began almost immediately, and Borissov defended the case of a beaten university student by saying that their grandfather was a communist. The following day it was revealed that a company linked to Mareshki clinched a lucrative 20-year beach concession. For two months, Bulgarians have protested against a scandal-ridden government which refuses to resign. Protesters shout slogans and wave Bulgarian national flags during an anti-government protest in Sofia on July 11, 2020. Half a year of political scandals. Some 100 people were arrested, many were badly beaten, including at least one journalist who produced his press card but was not spared from the police violence. This infuriated the protesters and on September 2, the largest crowds since the beginning of the crisis gathered in central Sofia. It became clear that the constitution was just a timewaster, and the Minister of Law resigned shortly after. For the vote to have succeeded, 121 MPs out of the total 240 would have had to vote in favour. Protests in several Bulgarian towns on Thursday condemned amendments to the Biodiversity Act, which they say will potentially harm protected zones, delay protective measures and … Since the beginning of 2020, a series of localised crises and scandals built up tension in the public sphere and led to an explosive protest wave against GERB’s almost uninterrupted 10-year rule. In a sleight of hand, the governing party changed the order of the demands and in August stunned everybody by declaring they have drafted a new constitution to fulfil the demand for change. As Member of Parliament Toma Bikov from the ruling GERB party put it on September 3, “after [the events of] yesterday, we can no longer discuss the resignation of the government. Over the past four days, Bulgaria … (Hristo Rusev / Getty Images) Our new issue, “Biden Our Time,” will be out soon. Therefore, their power must be undercut by economic reforms, too, such as the long overdue abolition of the flat tax regime put in place by a BSP-DPS government in 2008, which funnels money from the bottom to the top, concentrating economic power in the hands of a few business circles. October 28, 2020 - Radosveta Vassileva - Articles and Commentary. Bulgaria also needs а more robust welfare state that can make working people less dependent on the oligarchs for their livelihood. News Bulgaria riots: Police, anti-government protesters clash in Sofia. want to break Bulgaria.” The Bulgarian Socialist Party began a no-confidence vote in the government, citing 25 corruption scandals that have occurred since 2017; it failed and Borissov’s government stood. The following day, on July 9, the first mass protest took place in Sofia. Biden/Harris celebrations. The protests in Bulgaria demanding the resignation of the government and of the Prosecutor-General are set to enter a new phase, as a group of organisers seek to recruit people for a national strike, Bulgarian National Radio said on July 19. Several hundred anti-government protesters gathered in … 12 Jul 2020. The most notable case was of the Aleppu beach where a landslide cleared the ground for a luxury hotel right on the beach, which the authorities claimed was merely a “fortification wall”. The protests voiced three main demands: the resignation of the ruling coalition and the chief prosecutor, early elections and then judicial reform through constitutional amendments. The PG had a record... Protests.media is a decentralized news collective of researchers that seek to document mass movements from a peoples’ perspective, compared to inherently biased corporate and state media. On September 2, the two-month-long anti-governmental protests in Bulgaria entered the most violent stage to date. Either a special clinical path or National Program for Post-Covid Patients with Complications start in Bulgaria from February 8. Money is power and the more wealth one accumulates privately, the greater its gravity, warping and bending the public sphere and the political life to the benefit of its owners. Soon after taking up his role, Geshev attempted the arrest of the richest man in Bulgaria for tax evasion, Vasil Bozhkov. Jana Tsoneva is a Sofia-based sociologist and a founding member of KOI: an engaged research NGO and publishing house. At the beginning of 2020, Bulgaria appointed a new Prosecutor General, Ivan Geshev, an official viewed very unfavorably even before his appointment. 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