site.btaUPDATED Large Protests Held in Major Bulgarian Cities against 2026 State Budget Bill
Tens of thousands of citizens took to the streets in Sofia and major regional centers across Bulgaria on Monday to protest the adoption of the 2026 State Budget Bill.
In downtown Sofia, people began gathering at the square known as the “Power Triangle”, where the new National Assembly building is flanked by the Presidency and the Council of Ministers, to protest the adoption of the 2026 budget bills. The demonstration is organized by the Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition. There is an increased police presence in the area, and law enforcement officers are conducting checks on some of the protesters. Road traffic in the area is blocked.
The protest is peaceful. Groups of demonstrators are jumping and chanting: “Whoever doesn’t jump is fat”. Music is playing at the rally, and people are singing and dancing.
The words “Resignation and Jail” were projected in lights onto the facade of the Parliament building. At the protest, flags of Bulgaria and the European Union were waved. In front of the Parliament, two banners were displayed: “Generation Z is Coming” and “Young Bulgaria Without the Mafia”.
According to Nayo Titzin from the Continue the Change press office, more than 50,000 citizens attend the protest. He said that reports had been received about people being held in the metro and called on the authorities to release them if the reports were accurate.
In front of the Council of Ministers building, a stage has been set up, along with a screen that earlier showed drone footage. The images revealed that the area stretching from the Bulgarian National Bank, across the Power Triangle, all the way to the Statue of Sofia, was flooded with people.
“Temenuzhkas (ed. Violets) – in jail in winter,” read some of the placards, showing Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova and two figures with a pumpkin and a pig’s head instead of human heads, dressed in prison uniforms. Other signs list some of the protesters’ demands on the budget – stopping bonus payments, halting the increase in pension contributions, and rejecting the higher dividend tax.
A projector displays the word “Mafia” on the facade of the new National Assembly building, along with an image of a pig’s head, handcuffs, and the message “Come on Monday. Let’s stop the budget theft.” The screen mounted on a specially built stage for the rally is showing various videos about the state budget and the protest. Demonstrators began booing when clips were played featuring statements by Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning (MRF – New Beginning) Chair and Floor Leader Delyan Peevski, MRF – New Beginning Deputy Floor Leaders Bayram Bayram and Jordan Tzonev, and GERB-UDF Floor Leader and GERB Chair Boyko Borissov.
Organizers urged demonstrators to keep the protest peaceful. They warned that provocations were possible and called on anyone witnessing such acts to record them.
Some of the protesting citizens marched towards the headquarters of the MRF – New Beginning and GERB in Sofia.
Protests against the adoption of the draft budget are also being held in the regional centres of Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse, Pleven, Stara Zagora, Lovech, Veliko Tarnovo, Dobrich, Blagoevgrad, Sliven, Shumen and Yambol.
On November 26, there was again a protest against the adoption of the 2026 State Budget Bill, which flooded the Power Triangle. The following morning, GERB Chair Boyko Borissov said that he had told Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova to withdraw the draft budget. Later, Zhelyazkov said that an attempt would be made to restore dialogue with trade unions and employers, and on Friday Petkova said that a new meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation was upcoming.
On Friday, Borissov outlined three possible scenarios for the state budget’s future. After the draft budget was not withdrawn, a confrontation unfolded in Parliament’s corridors between Borissov, CC Chair Assen Vassilev, and Yes, Bulgaria Co-Chair Ivaylo Mirchev, and Vassilev said that another protest would follow.
/MR/
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