site.btaProtest March in Varna Supports Arrested City Mayor

A protest march in support of the arrested Varna Mayor, Blagomir Kotsev, passed through central boulevards and briefly blocked key intersections in the city on Sunday. The protesters chanted that they wanted their mayor back. The people at the head of the march carried a huge banner reading “Freedom for Varna – freedom for Blago.” There were also posters from previous protests expressing dissatisfaction with the Government, as well as calls for Kotsev's release from custody.

The march ended at Nezavisimost Square. There, acting Mayor Pavel Popov addressed the participants, pointing out that Blagomir Kotsev is in custody for an indefinite period on trumped-up charges. "It is difficult to come to terms with this injustice, but we must not despair," Popov said. He recalled that July 27 marks the Liberation of Varna and emphasized that the ancestors of the people of Varna also had no security, and it was not even clear whether the city would remain Bulgarian. Freedom rests on the shoulders of those who are ready to fight for it, Popov added.

A protest in support of the mayor is being held for the sixth time. The last one was on July 23, when people gathered in front of the municipal building in the city.

Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev was arrested late in the night on July 8 after a corruption tipoff by a failed public procurement tenderer to the Counter-Corruption Commission. The way his care is handled by the prosecution service and the court has triggered an outcry with protests taking place in Sofia and other large cities in the country.