BREAKING Bulgaria's government has resigned after weeks of massive demonstrations against corruption and economic policies
Protests that degenerated in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia. Photo: STR/NurPhoto / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
Prime Minister Rosen Jeliazkov's announcement came Thursday after an anti-government protest that gathered tens of thousands of Bulgarians in Sofia and other cities across the country, Reuters writes.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Jeliazkov tendered his government's resignation on Thursday after weeks of protests against economic policies and a perceived failure to fight corruption.
Jeliazkov announced his resignation in a televised statement minutes before parliament voted on a motion of no confidence.
The resignation comes shortly before Bulgaria joins the euro zone on January 1.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Sofia and other Bulgarian cities on Wednesday evening to demand the resignation of the government, amid the anger that crystallizes around the 2026 budget, according to AFP, Reuters and Agerpres.
For the third time in three weeks, demonstrators gathered in Independence Square, in front of the parliament in Sofia, chanting “Resign!” and carrying signs reading “I'm fed up!” and “Go away!”.
VIDEO Tens of thousands of Bulgarians took to the streets to demand the resignation of the government: “Leave! We are fed up”
Under pressure from the streets, the government on December 3 withdrew the draft budget, which had included increases in taxes and social security contributions, increases that protesters and the opposition say are designed to hide embezzlement.
A new draft budget was presented to parliament earlier this week.
“We will enter the euro zone without a government”
In addition to the government, a target of the protesters was former media magnate Delian Peevski, accused by the opposition of exerting occult influence over the media, justice and security services.
Peevski, sanctioned by the US and Great Britain for corruption, leads the party that represents the Turkish minority and part of the Roma, and which guarantees the government a parliamentary majority.
Parliament will vote on Thursday on a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Rosen Zheleznikov's minority government, the sixth since the executive was installed on January 15.
According to the Bulgarian agency BTA, Boiko Borisov, former prime minister and leader of the GERB party, had stated that the partners in the governing coalition had agreed not to resign before Bulgaria's entry into the euro zone on January 1.
However, Asen Vasiliev, from the pro-EU reformist opposition party Continue the Change, which was among the organizers of Wednesday's protest, said, quoted by Reuters, that “we will enter the euro zone even if the government resigned”.
