EditNearly one million Bulgarians protest oligarchy as Borissov hints at January resignation
The latest demonstration held not only in Sofia, but across all major cities, took place under the slogan “Resignation. Peevski and Borissov out of power”
Nearly a million Bulgarians took to the streets on 10 December in protests of a scale unseen since the fall of the totalitarian regime, rallying against corruption, the absence of rule of law, and the influence over the government exerted by U.S.-sanctioned oligarch Delyan Peevski.
The centre of the capital Sofia was brought to a standstill by hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in rallies initiated by the liberal We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition (PP-DB), which quickly grew into a nationwide outpouring of anger towards the authorities following a proposal to raise social security taxes.
The protests reached record levels not only in Sofia but across all major cities. Outside the capital, they strongly resembled the demonstrations of winter 2013, when Borissov resigned from his first government.
This time, civic unrest was driven by Bulgaria’s youngest citizens – Generation Z – who are no longer fighting primarily for economic benefits, but for justice and for the chance to change upside down what is today one of the EU’s most corruption-stricken member states.
Just before Wednesday’s protest, Boyko Borissov, leader of GERB, the dominant party in the governing coalition – said he might consider stepping down after 1 January, when Bulgaria is set to officially join the eurozone. His remarks followed a 1 December protest that also brought hundreds of thousands into the streets.
The latest demonstration was held under the slogan “Resignation. Peevski and Borissov out of power”, beginning symbolically outside the National Assembly – a building that housed the headquarters of the totalitarian Bulgarian Communist Party 35 years ago.
Bulgarian MPs urge U.S. to sanction political party controlled by Magnitsky-listed power broker
Earlier the same day, the parliament held a debate on a no-confidence motion submitted by the liberal coalition over the government’s economic policy. The debate made clear that the four formations backing the government – GERB, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, There Is Such a People, and the newly formed “DPS – New Beginning” led by Magnitsky-sanctioned Delyan Peevski, would ensure Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov’s cabinet survives Thursday’s vote.
Borissov himself, however, appeared less determined to continue beyond 1 January, worried that his proximity to Peevski costs his party too much public outcry. Another concern is whether Peevski – accused of wielding extensive informal influence over the security services and the judiciary, might trigger Borissov’s arrest, should the former prime minister move against him.
Against this political backdrop, the alternatives to the current government are President Rumen Radev, who has increasingly hinted at entering party politics, and the pro-EU liberal coalition We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, which is organising the protests.
“When Peevski falls, I don’t want to be underneath him” was chanted across the country – a clear echo of the iconic slogan “When the Communist Party falls, I don’t want to be underneath” heard during the massive pro-democracy demonstrations of 1990.
In Sofia, protesters quoted prominent Bulgarian legal scholar and philosopher Kristian Takov, who once said: “Evil can be stopped only through daily, unceasing, exhausting and thankless effort.”
Zhanna, a Bulgarian of Turkish origin, joined the protest declaring that Delyan Peevski and his “New Beginning” party cannot represent her, despite his claims of controlling the votes of the Turkish minority.
“My name is Zhanna and I am a Bulgarian of Turkish origin. I want to show that Bulgarian Turks are not what Delyan Peevski claims. He cannot represent me – not because he is Bulgarian, but because an entire system of values separates us. I am here because I am tired of the state we belong to treating us as stepchildren. We are sick of being used as vote farms and as a human shield. Instead of integration, we receive social castration,” Zhanna said.
Ethnic Turk Dzhem Yumerov also addressed the crowd: “Please vote, because Bulgarian civil society is showing that it is awake, and we will prove it at the elections. ‘Dzhem’ means unifier – so unite, Bulgarians.”
By 9:00 PM, some of the organizers of today’s rally also took the stage – the leaders of PP-DB: Asen Vassilev, Ivaylo Mirchev, and Bozhidar Bozhanov. Vassilev fired up the crowd with the familiar chant: “When Peevski falls…” Bozhanov, for his part, called on the crowd to prepare for early parliamentary elections. “This protest is historic. This is the power of civil society. This resignation has already been submitted. They just haven’t realized it yet,” Bozhanov added.
Mobile signal disruption
Mobile phone service in central Sofia was jammed or artificially overloaded during Monday evening’s protest against the government, according to two MPs from We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, Bozhidar Bozhanov and Ivaylo Mirchev, who spoke from the parliamentary rostrum.
They called on Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov – regardless of his involvement – to instruct the security services to halt the interference.
According to the opposition, the authorities used special hardware that simulates fake SIM cards which connect to mobile network cells, overloading them and causing service outages.
Protest of opposition-minded Bulgarians were also held in several European major cities.
Updated: December 11, 2025 - 08:03
