site.btaJune 11, 1990: 35 Years Ago Students Occupy Bulgarian Universities

On June 11, 1990, students started an occupation strike across Bulgaria.

Late at night on June 11, 1990, after an official announcement of results of the the first round of elections for a Grand National Assembly, the students from St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia declared an occupational strike. On the next day, the strike reached universities nationwide.

University students demanded that:

• the President of Bulgaria address the political tension in the country;
• the National Election Commission (NEC) publish an official report about all detected violations in the election for Grand National Assembly on June 10 and June 17,1990;
• the independent election monitors aid NEC with a statement about the fairness of the election;
• the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, which monitors the National Radio and Television, provide an answer for the discontinued broadcasts about the election results in the morning of June 11, 1990, and the reasons for the information blackout that followed.

On the day after the elections, supporters of the opposition Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) rallied at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. The students who took part in the rally headed to Sofia University, determined to hold an occupation strike until they receive an answer about the violations in electoral procedures from NEC. The strike ended on July 7, 1990, after the students declare that most of their demands have been met.

The students were essentially protesting against the slow pace of political and economic reforms after the fall of the communist regime in late 1989. They demanded faster democratization, transparency, and greater participation in the new political system. Their action symbolized the wider dissatisfaction among young people and intellectuals with lingering authoritarian practices and the hesitancy of the newly formed government to fully break from the totalitarian system.

The strike gained substantial attention in Bulgarian society and pressured the government and political parties to step up reforms.