"Enough with corruption"/ Massive protest in Bulgaria, government resignation demanded

Thousands of Bulgarians rallied on Wednesday evening against the country's government and what they call its failure to combat endemic corruption in the European Union's poorest member state.

The protests in the capital Sofia and dozens of other cities across the Black Sea nation are the latest in a series of ongoing demonstrations and come as Bulgaria prepares to adopt the euro on January 1.

Protesters used lasers to project the words "Resignation," "Mafia Out," and "For Fair Elections" onto the parliament building in central Sofia.

“I think the energy of the people will gradually force it (the government) to resign because many reforms are needed ,” said Dobri Lakov, 64, a Sofia resident.

"First of all, judicial reform. If the judicial system is fixed, everything else will fall into place, absolutely everything."

Bulgaria's parliament will hold a no-confidence vote on Thursday against the government of Prime Minister Rosen Zheleznikov, the sixth such vote since she took power on January 15 of this year.

Last week, the government withdrew its 2026 budget plan, the first ever drafted in euros, amid mass protests. Opposition parties and other organizations said they were protesting against plans to increase social security contributions and taxes on dividends to finance higher state spending.

Despite the government's withdrawal of the budget plan, protests have continued unabated in a country that has held seven national elections in the past four years – most recently in October 2024 – amid deep political and social divisions.

"It is finally time for normality to come to Bulgaria and for us to be freed from the oligarchy, the mafia and the forces that represent them," said Angelin Bahchevanov, an IT specialist.

Bulgarian news agency BTA reported on Wednesday that Boyko Borissov, a former prime minister and leader of the ruling GERB party, said that the ruling coalition partners had agreed not to resign before Bulgaria joins the eurozone on January 1.

However, Assen Vassilev of the reformist opposition party "We Continue the Change", which was among the organizers of Wednesday's protest, said: "We will enter the eurozone, even if the government has resigned."

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