Three policemen were injured during a demonstration in Sofia on Tuesday, Bulgarian Independence Day, with participants demanding
"independence from the Mafia"
and demanding the resignation of the government.
Nearly 10,000 protesters gathered in the capital, according to an estimate by AFP journalists.
Anti-government demonstrations were held in several provincial towns.
In Veliko Tarnovo (center), the Mecca of celebrations, the speech of the President of Parliament Tsveta Karayantcheva was accompanied by cries of
“Resignation!”
, announced public radio.
"Resignation!"
,
"Mafia"
, as chanting protesters in Sofia with many young people, making a deafening noise vouvouzélas the front seat of government.
"I insist on making a living in Bulgaria, even though most of my colleagues will emigrate as soon as they graduate,"
says Yanina Vassileva, a medical student in Sofia.
Read also: Crisis in Bulgaria: Boïko Borisov drops his fifth minister in less than two months
Clashes deteriorated the festive atmosphere at the start of the evening.
Firecrackers, stones and bottles were thrown at three ropes of police officers equipped with bulletproof vests, armed with batons and shields, protecting the historic parliament building.
Police repelled protesters on several occasions.
Three police officers were injured by cobblestones, according to the police direction.
Daily demonstrations against corruption have been held in Sofia for two and a half months, bringing together protesters from different backgrounds and all political leanings, demanding
"a life in accordance with European standards"
.
The poorest country in the European Union, Bulgaria is also the most corrupt member, according to corruption perception indices from the NGO Transparency International.
The demonstration on Tuesday was described by the organizers as
“the third day of the Great Popular Uprising”
.
The first day, September 2, was marked by violence that left nearly 200 injured, police and protesters.
Read also: Thousands of Bulgarians take to the streets again against the government
In power for almost ten years, the center-right Prime Minister Boïko Borissov, whose term expires in March, refuses to resign
"in the name of the stability of the country"
in the context of the crisis linked to Covid-19.
He accuses the protesters of lacking an alternative political project.
"It is through dialogue and not through confrontation that one achieves success,"
wrote on Tuesday on his Facebook page Boïko Borissov, who recently avoided appearing in public.
President Roumen Radev, close to the socialist opposition, for his part congratulated on the occasion of the celebration
"the awakened citizens who have been questioning for more than two months the moral degradation"
of power.
