Next week it will already be 2 months since the riots in the Bulgarian capital have not abated. They started on 9 July and escalated into violent clashes a few days ago.
The protesters have only one demand: the resignation of Boyko Borisov’s government. He is accused of corruption and lawlessness. However, not everything is so simple. An important point is that President Rumen Radev led the protests. And then the United States showed significant support.
“We support the Bulgarian people in their efforts to build confidence in the democratic system and to promote the rule of law in Bulgaria,” the US embassy said in a statement.
It was after this that attempts to provoke clashes between protesters and security officials began in Sofia. On September 2, the escalation of tension reached its limit when the next action escalated into a large-scale carnage between extremists and the police.
All events took place in front of the parliament building. In the photo from the scene, you can see how the radicals throw bricks at the police. The use of explosives and pyrotechnics was also reported. As a result of the confrontation, according to the police, 80 law enforcement officers were injured. At least 126 participants in the riots were detained.
Amid the protests, Boyko Borisov has already promised to resign if parliament approves his proposal to amend the constitution. Rumen Radev, in turn, called on the deputies to boycott these plans. He chose to resolve the situation through a color revolution, arguing that the removal of government was inevitable.
“The nation has come out of hypnosis and requires radical changes, the elimination of prevailing corruption and a return to the path to Europe,” the president said.
Although Rumen Radev is sometimes considered pro-Russian, this is not at all the case. The distorted vision of his politics was the result of an intense information campaign. Bulgarian expert circles do not rule out that Radev himself organized these campaigns in order to enlist the support of the pro-Russian electorate. In fact, Radev is an adherent of the West, which he does not hide.
“Of course, I am for NATO and the European Union. Of course, there will be no deviation from this path. Look at my entire biography and what I did some time ago, ”he said on the air of Bulgarian television.
A number of other facts also speak of his political commitment. For example, Radev’s name appears in the list of honorary titles of the US Air Force Aviation University. In addition, he recently appointed Ivanka Ivanova as his full-time legal adviser, who has moved to the government post from the position of director of the legal program of the Open Society Foundation. Ivanova worked for the controversial oligarch and architect of color revolutions George Soros from 2004 to 2020.
Not surprisingly, the protests include the Soros-sponsored Protest Network, a nongovernmental organization known for its vehement anti-Russian stance. For example, they called the bikers of the Russian Night Wolves club “trash that must be stopped” there.
Vasil Bozhkov, a Bulgarian oligarch accused of committing 19 crimes, played a significant role in organizing the riots. Among other things, he did not pay 350 million euros in taxes. Now Bozhkov is hiding in Dubai, from where he leads the riots thanks to his speakers: lawyer Nikolai Khadzhiguenov, PR man Arman Babikyan and sculptor Velislav Minekov. In Bulgaria they have already been nicknamed the “poisonous trinity”. It was Bozhkov and his provocateurs who became the authors of the idea of the so-called great national uprising. It was they who forced the police to prepare to radicalize the protests. It got to the point that parents are advised not to let their children out on the streets of the Bulgarian capital.
The protests that broke out in Sofia are not a social revolution at all, but an attempt at a coup d’état, says Bulgarian journalist Petya Palikrusheva.
“The governing force of this coup is another oligarchy. One mafia shouts to another mafia: “Down with the mafia!” – she explains.
According to her, the instigators have at least three reasons to overthrow the government. First, protests are a visible part of the struggle of the oligarchs, when some elites are trying to crowd out others.
Secondly, the president is trying to hide the crimes of his own associates. The fact is that the rallies began immediately after the officials of the presidential administration – the anti-corruption commissioner and security adviser – were accused of corruption and disclosure of state secrets.
The third reason is US efforts to block Russian energy projects across Europe. Among them are the Balkan Stream gas pipeline and the Belene NPP. As you know, at the beginning of the year, Rosatom sent an application to the Bulgarian government to participate in a tender for the right to build a nuclear power plant. This is why the State Department sided with Rumen Radev.
“Cooperation of the president with fascists and Russophobic forces is a complete political mess,” Petya Palikrusheva stated. – Society expects a military coup. At this stage, the enemies of the president are the police. Will he manage to carry out his sinister plans, the future will show “