Sawt Falasteen - Anti-government protest draws tens of thousands in Bulgaria

In recent weeks, Bulgaria has been gripped by a wave of rallies against a divisive 2026 draft budget, which protesters have branded an attempt to mask rampant corruption.

Demonstrators gathered for fresh protests in major cities across Bulgaria on Wednesday night.

Tens of thousands rallied outside the parliament building in Sofia alone, an AFP journalist observed. Protesters chanted "Resign" and held up "I'm fed up!" signs featuring caricatures of politicians.

"Corruption and stolen money are the big problems," Martin Nedkov, a 45-year-old engineer, told AFP.

He said he was wearing a pig snout at the rally "because it symbolises the pigsty that the state has become", adding that he was hopeful of change.

Retail employee Gergana Gelkova, 24, said she joined the protest because widespread corruption has become "intolerable".

"Most of my friends no longer live in Bulgaria and will not return. I want our country to be run by young, competent and educated people," she told AFP.

The protests first erupted in the European Union's poorest country in late November, when the ruling majority government attempted to fast-track the 2026 budget.

Critics say the institutions managing Bulgaria's public finances are corrupt and the budget measures would only entrench graft.

- Crystallised anger -

With Bulgaria joining the eurozone on January 1, the budget will be the country's first calculated in euros.

"Bulgarians do not trust their institutions and leaders. In recent months, this has been compounded by concerns about prices," as the country prepares to adopt the euro, Boryana Dimitrova, director of the Alpha Research polling institute, told AFP.

According to Dimitrova, the contested budget has crystallised anger against widespread corruption by translating "the now commonplace problem... into understandable language".

Under pressure from the protests, the government in early December withdrew its budget proposal, which included unpopular measures such as an increase in social-security contributions.

A new draft budget was presented to parliament at the beginning of this week.

The pro-Western opposition coalition PP-DB organised Wednesday's rally in Sofia.

Last week, President Rumen Radev declared his support for the protesters and urged the government to resign to make way for early elections.

In May, Radev proposed holding a referendum on the introduction of the euro.

Along with Hungary and Romania, Bulgaria is among the lowest ranking members on watchdog Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index.

The Balkan country has seen seven snap elections following massive anti-graft protests in 2020 against the government of three-time premier Boyko Borissov.

Borissov's conservative GERB party topped the most recent election last year, forming the current coalition government.

X.AbuJaber--SF-PST