2020–2021 Bulgarian protests
The 2020–2021 Bulgarian protests were a series of demonstrations that were being held in Bulgaria, mainly in the capital Sofia, as well as cities with a large Bulgarian diaspora, such as Brussels,[17] Paris,[17] Madrid,[17] Barcelona,[17] Berlin[17] and London.[17] The protest movement was the culmination of long-standing grievances against endemic corruption and state capture, particularly associated with prime minister Boyko Borisov's governments, in power since 2009.
2020–2021 Bulgarian protests
9 July 2020 – 16 April 2021
(282 days)
- Sofia - main protest site;
- Burgas, Plovdiv, Varna, Blagoevgrad, Veliko Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Kyustendil, Lovech, Vratsa, Haskovo, Pazardzhik, Ruse, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Yambol, Karlovo, Stara Zagora, Bankya;
- Abroad – London, Oxford, Exeter, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton, Berlin, Cologne, Nuremberg, Munich, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Hamburg, Münster, The Hague, Amsterdam, Brussels, Luxembourg, Copenhagen, Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Milan, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Istanbul, Ankara, Barcelona, Madrid, Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo and others
- Prosecutor's Office raiding the Presidency of Bulgaria
- Government mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Ahmed Dogan and Delyan Peevski being guarded by the National Service for Protection[1]
- Political corruption and misuse of EU funds
- State capture
- Lack of media freedom and transparency
- Lack of adequate environmental protection
- Systemic electoral fraud
- Resignation of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the Bulgarian government (until April 4, 2021)
- Court trial and imprisonment of Boyko Borisov
- Resignation of Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev
- Resignation of BNT Director General Emil Koshlukov
- Resignation of Mayor of Sofia Yordanka Fandakova
- Early parliamentary elections
- Constitutional amendment
- Demonstrations
- Sit-ins
- Occupations
- Photobombing
- Online activism
- Picketing
- Road blocks and barricades
- Motorcades
- Hunger strikes
- Riots (on 2 September)
Ended
- A no-confidence motion brought in by the Socialist Party is defeated in the National Assembly (21 July)
- The Constitutional Court of Bulgaria unanimously rules that Chief Prosecutor Geshev is not allowed to investigate the incumbent President (30 July)
- Police forces storm and dismantle the road blocks and tent camps across the country (7 August)
- Most road blocks reestablished by demonstrators (10 August)
- Six NSS agents disciplined for their actions on the Rosenets beach (10 August)
- Minister for Justice and Central Electoral Commission Chairwoman resign (26–27 August)
- 2021–2023 Bulgarian political crisis
- Head of National Service for Protection resigned (10 July)
- Resignation of 3 government ministers offered, later withdrawn (Offered 15 July, withdrawn 16 July)
- Government reshuffle (23 July)
- Government announces 2 billion lev stimulus package (27 July)
- The GERB faction in Burgas city council votes a resolution to renationalize the street leading to Rosenets beach (27 July)
- The government announces a second social package (12 August)
- Limited constitutional amendment proposed by the government (14 August)
0
More than 200
Hundreds
Spontaneous demonstrations were triggered by the 9 July 2020 raid on the Presidency of Bulgaria by police and prosecutors in what was perceived as an attack against President Rumen Radev, a vocal critic of Borisov's rule.[18]
Borisov has refused to resign, insisting that the "mafia wants to overthrow him" and that "no alternatives" to his rule have been presented.[19] His ministers, deputies and parliamentary allies have labelled protesters "scum",[20] "apes"[21] and a "herd" which must be "put back in its place".[22]
The protests ended on 16 April 2021, as the 4-year term of Borisov's cabinet has ended, and the formal resignation of the 3rd Borisov government has been accepted by the new parliament.[23]
Cause of protests[edit]
Alleged photographs and voice recordings of the Prime Minister[edit]
Shortly before the start of the protests, photographs emerged that purported to show what appeared to be Prime Minister Borisov laying half-naked on a bed, next to a nightstand featuring a handgun and stacks of 500 euro banknotes. Borisov confirmed that the room in which the photos were taken was his, but denied the gun and money, stating that the images could have been manipulated. Borisov accused President Radev of flying a consumer drone into his residence in order to take the picture. He also accused former Ombudswoman Maya Manolova, TV star Slavi Trifonov and his own former second in command Tsvetan Tsvetanov (who had just left and condemned the ruling party) of involvement in a plot to take photos of him while he was sleeping, in a "KGB-Style" kompromat operation. Radev condemned the leaks and called it an "insane" invasion of the prime minister's privacy. He added that he owns a drone, but that the accusation that he personally piloted it into the prime minister's residence to take pictures was part of Borisov's "fantasy and paranoia".[63][64][65][66]
Around that time controversial voice recordings were leaked on the Internet. The voice in the recordings, which strongly resembles the voice of the Prime Minister Borisov, insults fellow GERB member and chairman of the National Assembly Tsveta Karayancheva and European leaders.[67][68][69] On 24 July, socialist MEP Elena Yoncheva stated that American experts had allegedly proven the authenticity of the recording. EU Parliament head David Sassoli stated that Yoncheva had pledged to provide the findings to Belgian police.[70]
Scandal with National Security Service guards[edit]
One of the events that provoked a strong public reaction was an action of activists of Yes, Bulgaria!, broadcast live on social media. The activists, led by Hristo Ivanov, reached a coastal beach in front of the residence of Bulgarian oligarch Ahmed Dogan, located near the port of Rosenets in Burgas by boat. Their purpose was to check whether the regime of exclusive state ownership of the surrounding beach is actually observed and whether as such it is accessible to Bulgarian citizens. There they were intercepted by security guards, which pushed them out, insisted that the beach was privately owned and called the police, which assisted them.[71][72]
The activists subsequently called on the president and the prime minister to identify whether the anonymous security guards were National Security Service (NSS) employees. The NSS is a government-funded bodyguard and security service that is only mandated to protect state leaders, which Ahmed Dogan is not.[73] Party representatives also called on the prosecutor's office to launch an investigation against Ahmed Dogan for violating the constitution and state property law.[71]
In an address to the nation the following day, President Radev revealed that the guards were, in fact, employees of the National Security Service.[73] Borisov called on the leadership of the NSS to cease protection duties of Ahmed Dogan and Delyan Peevski, who is also under protection by the Service. Radev followed with a similar call several hours later.[74] In this situation, GERB and the United Patriots introduced amendments to the Law on NGOs, according to which the appointment of security guards by the service would become the responsibility of the head of the service.[75]
"Eight Dwarfs" extortion scandal[edit]
In early July, the name of the General Prosecutor became mixed up in the corruption scandal "Eight Dwarfs", which erupted at the same time. The "Eight Dwarfs" scandal was named after a downtown Sofia restaurant in which alleged extortion deals took place. The scandal related to senior magistrates, with which the American ambassador to the country was personally acquainted. Prosecution magistrates were accused by an owner of an elevator company of extorting him to give up his shares in the company to them, threatening him that they would leave his sick son without lifesaving hemodialysis should he refuse. The magistrates were also alleged to have met there to discuss plans to steal 35 kilograms of gold from another businessman.[76]
Incursion of the public prosecutors into the presidency[edit]
Shortly thereafter, representatives of the prosecution and Capitol Police investigators entered the presidency, carrying out search and seizure operations.[77][78][79] They arrested two officials from the presidential administration. The first arrestee was Plamen Uzunov, advisor on legal issues and anti-corruption, accused of Influence peddling. The second – Iliya Milushev, a presidential advisor on security issues, accused of crimes involving disclosure of state secrets and conspiracy to illegally obtain secret documents. Another employee of the state reconnaissance agency with the initials M.K. was also arrested. According to the prosecution's statement Milushev voluntarily handed over four documents, which had been taken illegally from the State Intelligence Agency. According to the Agency, the documents contained information constituting a state secret.[77][78][79][80][81][82][83] At the same time a prominent businessman Plamen Bobokov was also arrested for alleged Influence peddling.[84][85]
General Prosecutor Ivan Geshev told the media his indifference to the incident on the beach, where it was revealed that the national flag had been trampled.[86]
Eventually, the culmination of all these scandals provoked a spontaneous protest in front of the presidency.[87]
Analysis and political commentary[edit]
Political scientists have characterized the protests as having many faces due to bringing together people who may not have a lot of common ground in terms of political orientations,[397] as a result of which the demonstrations are also believed to have managed to transcend the old divide between left-wing and right-wing leaning Bulgarians, while exhibiting similarities to the 2013–14 Bulgarian protests against the Oresharski cabinet in terms of being dominated by political rather than social demands.[398] Confederation of Labour Podkrepa leader Dimitar Manolov has seen the explicit support by a greater number of political parties for the protests as a weakness due to perceiving many of these political figures as untrustworthy, also depicting the demonstrations as lacking the energy of the anti-Oresharski ones and expressing disappointment with the absence of employment-related demands.[399]
A major factor behind the citizen energy to protest has been the deep crisis of trust in the political elites, which has notably resulted in delegitimizing Boyko Borisov and Ivan Geshev, with resignation regarded as the only useful political move from the standpoint of the latter two.[400] Artist and animator Theodore Ushev has similarly identified the main issue as being the "carricature of democracy" that Bulgarian society has been receiving over the last 30 years, expressing the viewpoint that no protest can be a failure and remaining optimistic about the future.[401] According to political commentator Evgeniy Daynov the protests are deep-rooted and even civilizational, reflecting the dissatisfaction of many modern thinking young people with the non-democratic governing practices that are seen as typical of the 1990s, thus in a sense representing a revolt of the future against the past.[402]
Writer Stefan Tsanev has been critical of the protest methods, such as the throwing of rotten produce at government buildings, and the non-compromising tone adopted by them, drawing parallels with the repressions associated with the dekulakization in Bulgaria. Coupled with the lack of clarity as to what the plan is once the aims of the protests are achieved, in his view this has lessened the protesters' appeal to the intellectuals.[403]
Journalist and writer Lyuben Dilov Jr. has claimed that the protests are essentially a Sofia-based phenomenon, as the protesters have been unable to translate their messages into a language digestible to the wider masses of citizens outside the capital city, and also lack a unifying figure.[404] The absence of a protest leader and a unified platform has also been identified as a weakness of the protests by sociologist Boryana Dimitrova who also stated that the protesters faced an uphill battle due to the pandemic situation, during which existential questions tend to push political ones out of the picture.[405] Political scientist Ognyan Minchev stated in December 2020 that the wider society has so far been unable to produce a credible alternative to Borisov's party that could lead the country in a new direction, though he also indicated that this is just a temporary bonus for the government and by no means something for which the status quo deserves praise.[406]
Academician and psychiatrist Drozdstoy Stoyanov posited that Borisov's quasi-totalitarian style of governing gave the general public a sense of predictability and certainty about tomorrow, similar to how many felt under the People's Republic of Bulgaria, which sense they craved like a narcotic. He further asserted that people didn't genuinely like Prime Minister Borisov, but the uneducated saw him as a father figure who is sympathetic to their hardships due to his image as a man of the people. Stoyanov concluded that the lack of intelligentsia in Bulgarian society contributed to Borisov's enduring positive image among the masses.[407]
Potential impacts on COVID-19 transmission[edit]
Medics and public figures have expressed concerns that the protests will contribute to a further rise in the number of infections due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria,[408][409] with actions such as loud speaking identified as significantly more likely to generate a higher number of virus-containing droplets.[410] Infectiologist Atanas Mangarov, whose views have been criticized by many of his colleagues within the field of medicine,[411] such as leading members of the National Operational Headquarters for the fight against the coronavirus in Bulgaria,[412] has claimed that the protests could be potentially beneficial in the long-term due to herd immunity (acquired as a result of many young and low-risk protest participants catching the virus and recovering from it) bringing the pandemic to a halt.[413] On 1 August 2020 a sharp increase in the number of positive tests for COVID-19 among police officers in Sofia was reported,[414] though none of them were heavily symptomatic.[415] As a result, the number of security personnel deployed at the protests was reduced and Radoslav Stoynev, head of the Security Police Department, urged that masks be worn outdoors as well.[416] However, no increase in COVID-19 cases among the general population has been attributed to the protests and the number of active cases in Bulgaria was in decline from early August until mid to late September 2020.[417] Todor Kantardzhiev, a prominent member of the National Operational Headquarters for the fight against the coronavirus in Bulgaria, claimed in September 2020 that the protests did not play a significant role in bringing about exponential spread in the country,[418] though Asen Baltov, the director of Pirogov Hospital, identified them in January 2021 as one of a number of factors contributing to the strain that was put on the country's health services in the autumn.[419] The protesters and their organizers have been criticized for not observing some of the pandemic-related protocols.[420][421]