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New Eastern Europe (28 October 2020)

Radosveta Vassileva

For more than 100 days, thousands of Bulgarians have been coming together in the streets to demand the resignations of Boyko Borissov’s third government and General Prosecutor Ivan Geshev. The mass protests erupted after the Prosecutor’s Office physically raided Bulgaria’s Presidency and arrested two of President Rumen Radev’s associates on questionable charges. In the eyes of many, this was not only a violation of the separation of powers and the principle of immunity from which the President benefits, but also an attempt to prepare the ground for the impeachment of Radev, a critic of Borissov. In other words, the Prosecutor’s Office attempted to orchestrate a coup. However, the plan backfired as both right-wingers and left-wingers immediately gathered in protest to defend the rule of law. The raid was merely the last straw for a nation that has now run out of patience with its authorities.

What have the protests achieved and what does the future hold for Bulgaria? These are serious questions now being pondered within Bulgaria’s fragile civil society, which is facing more and more pressure from local authorities.

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