Bulgarians protest new draft budget
Last week and again on Monday, tens of thousands took the streets in Bulgaria. The demonstrations, the largest in years, are in protest at the government's draft budget for 2026, which proposes a hike in taxes and social security contributions. Corruption allegations are also in the air. Riots have broken out in Sofia, and demonstrators have clashed with the police.
Casting off despondency
In Dnevnik, philosophy professor Kalin Yanakiev sees an awakening of civic spirit:
“Having participated in all major protests since 1989, I know them inside out and can assess their radicalism and adrenaline content fairly accurately. So I can say with a fair degree of certainty that last Wednesday's protest had our current oligarchy trembling in its boots - and rightly so. ... I admit that I hadn't expected such a large crowd or so much anger. I had the feeling that a state of deep despondency had overtaken the country after 2020, a mood of disgust and despair that I could not condone in any way. ... I'm only too happy that my democratic-minded fellow citizens proved me wrong on Wednesday.”
Opposition must transform anger into policy
Few would have thought that so many people would take to the streets, Sega writes:
“The protest against the budget drew such a large crowd that it took everyone by surprise: both the government, which had expected another harmless opposition demonstration, and its opponents, who had prepared themselves for nothing more than a battle against the draft budget. It is clear that it is not only the issue of government spending that has driven thousands of citizens onto the streets. Perhaps that's not even the main motive. The opposition now faces a difficult task. Not only must it understand what the people want, but it must also formulate this as an achievable political goal.”