Bulgarians stage anti-corruption rallies for third day
Thousands of people have flocked to the streets in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia and several other major cities, calling for the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the country’s chief prosecutor over corruption charges.
The demonstrators protested on Saturday for a third consecutive day and accused Borissov’s government and Bulgarian chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev of deliberately delaying investigations into links between graft-prone officials and local oligarchs.
Protests against what many described as “mafia-style” rule were simultaneously held in several cities in the Balkan country.
Police arrested 18 people late Friday after scuffles broke out during anti-corruption protests, but the demonstration on Saturday was largely peaceful.
Bulgarians are frustrated with economic corruption as the country — the European Union (EU)’s poorest and most corrupt member state — has long pledged to eradicate graft but has yet to prosecute any senior officials on corruption charges.
Anti-corruption demonstrations were staged after prosecutors ordered a raid on the offices of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who has been a vocal critic of the government, in what seemed to have been a targeted attack on a critical voice.
In a televised address on Saturday, Radev called for the resignation of the government and the chief prosecutor, and underlined that the nationwide protests showed that Bulgarians across the political spectrum had had enough.
“The corruption, the prosecutors’ racketeering and inaction against the plunderers… and the lack of justice is what people stood against,” he said.
More anti-government protests have been planned in Sofia and other cities over the next days.
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