site.btaNovember 3, 1989: Ecoglasnost Activists Stage Civic Demonstration Against Totalitarian Regime

On November 3, 1989, Ecoglasnost activists staged a civic demonstration against the totalitarian regime, presenting a petition signed by 12,000 people to Parliament in opposition to two hydropower projects.

In late October 1989, an OSCE conference on environmental protection took place at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. The presence of foreign journalists at the meeting encouraged Ecoglasnost to start collecting signatures on the streets of Sofia against the construction of a system of hydroelectric power plant dams in Mount Rila. The projects would cost over BGN 1.5 billion, and their construction threatened the entire ecosystem of Mount Rila. The activists insisted that an environmental impact assessment be carried out, and that the authorities organize a public discussion of the projects.

On November 3, 1989, it was decided that the petition would be submitted to the National Assembly. By this time, 11,545 citizens had signed the petition. Participants in the peaceful march gathered in the square in front of the Alexander Nevsky Memorial Cathedral shortly before 5 p.m. When the procession reached Parliament, it stopped, and several representatives of Ecoglasnost carried the petition inside, passing through barricades and a police cordon. About ten minutes later, they came out and the crowd gradually dispersed.

Here is how the event was covered by global news agencies Reuters and AFP:

Reuters

SOFIA, Bulgaria — More than 4,000 Bulgarians, many shouting, “Democracy!” and “Glasnost!,” demonstrated outside government headquarters today in the latest signs of upheaval in Eastern Europe.

The crowd joined a short march organized by the unofficial ecology group Eco-glasnost to hand a petition on environmental problems to government officials.

Uniformed police ringed the square in central Sofia but did not intervene as six Eco-glasnost members delivered the petition, the first of its kind in 45 years.

The crowd dispersed peacefully after 15 minutes.

“It was electrifying, and the biggest sign of hope that seems to be mounting here,” said one Western diplomat in the crowd.

Eco-glasnost spokeswoman Dimitrina Petrova said she had handed the petition with 11,545 signatures to the deputy president of the National Assembly, Angel Dimitrov.

“He said it seemed fine from the procedural point of view and would be considered,” Petrova told Reuters.

Foreign diplomats and delegates from the eco-forum, which ended yesterday, as well as several prominent political dissidents, also participated in the event. Dissident activity in Bulgaria flourished over the three weeks, with activists taking advantage of international interest in the eco-forum to publicly express their concerns. Ecoglasnost and several other political dissident groups organized their first public meetings and press conferences after the forum began on October 15. On Thursday evening, more than 1,000 Bulgarians filled a Sofia cinema for the first public meeting of the Club of Intellectuals in Support of Restructuring and Glasnost. The speakers' calls for freedom of speech and democratic reforms were met with thunderous applause. During yesterday's demonstration, the leaders of Ecoglasnost and political dissidents were greeted and stopped by passersby for autographs.

AFP

SOFIA, November 4 (AFP) - Between 4,000 and 5,000 people, chanting "Democracy," "Referendum," and "Glasnost," took part in a demonstration in Sofia yesterday organized by the independent movement "Eco-Glasnost," observers reported from the scene. This first unofficial but well-attended demonstration since the establishment of the communist system in Bulgaria was organized to deliver a petition with about 11,500 signatures to parliament against various projects considered harmful from an environmental point of view by the organization. The demonstration took place on the closing day of the three-week eco-forum in Sofia, which allowed Bulgarian independent movements to present themselves to the world. The demonstrators marched about 300 meters from their meeting point to the parliament, where a six-member delegation from Eco-Voice was received by the deputy chairman of the National Assembly, Angel Dimitrov. The demonstrators sang the popular Bulgarian song "Hubava si, moya goro" and the national anthem. A poster carried by participants in the demonstration made it clear that this was a "peaceful march by Ecoglasnost" to prevent possible incidents such as those last week, when security representatives brutally intervened against the collection of signatures.

The secretary of Ecoglasnost, Alexander Karakachanov, announced that the organization wants to establish branches throughout the country. There were no incidents. The Bulgarian news agency reported on the demonstration without mentioning the name of Ecoglasnost, which is not recognized by the authorities.