Protests fired up across a dozen Bulgarian cities as opposition leaders and demonstrators clashed with the government over budget plans. Reform party chiefs got into it with Borisov outside parliament after he claimed last week's rally belonged to business groups rather than political movements. One co-chair warned that younger voters were finally getting mad enough to show up, and that energy could catch leadership off guard.
Interior officials set up screening stations around Sofia's government district to filter out known troublemakers from earlier demonstrations. Opposition figures publicly accused authorities of planning to plant provocateurs in the crowd to make peaceful protesters look bad, demanding that security forces block...
Bulgaria locked in natural gas at 63 leva per megawatt-hour for the next billing cycle, which works out to about 32 euros before tacking on transmission fees and taxes. State supplier Bulgargaz will move product to retail companies and heating plants at this rate, marking a drop of roughly 4 percent from what people paid last month.
International market prices kept sliding on exchanges, and some bulk buyers backed out of earlier orders they had placed. The current rate comes in around 16 percent cheaper than what consumers faced this time last year and sits 34 percent below rates from two years back.
Sofia cops are throwing up security checkpoints all over the government district ahead of another protest, and the police chief said they heard chatter about potential troublemakers showing up to start problems. Officers will screen people who caused drama at previous demonstrations and search for weapons, fireworks, clubs, and boxing gloves at nine different spots around parliament and nearby government buildings.
The department wants protest organizers to snitch on anyone looking sketchy and asked city officials to pull the plug if things get rowdy. Police made it clear that peaceful protesters can do their thing, but anyone getting aggressive or wrecking government property will get bounced immediately.
Lab tests caught elevated uranium levels in tap water across multiple towns near Plovdiv, and officials told people to stop drinking or cooking with it immediately. The contamination hit Parvomay, Gradina, Krushevo, and Bolyarino, with readings pushing past the 30-microgram safety threshold that regulations set as the maximum allowable amount per liter.
Parvomay clocked 42 micrograms, while Gradina and Krushevo both exceeded 41 micrograms in samples collected late last month. Health agencies said residents can still use the water for washing and cleaning, but anything involving consumption is off-limits until the situation gets sorted out.
Bulgarian workers pulled in an average of 2,549 leva per month during the third quarter, marking a 12-percent jump from the same stretch last year. Sofia residents crushed that number by nearly 25 percent, hitting 3,474 leva, while places like Targovishte and Silistra saw wages spike close to 20 percent. Tech and telecom workers topped the salary charts at 5,512 leva, followed by finance people and utility workers.
About a third of employees work in the eight sectors that beat the national average, with government jobs, mining gigs, teachers, and healthcare staff all clearing 2,500 leva or more. Total household income crept up around 4 percent to nearly 7,000 leva, and annual wages for the whole year landed at 27,898 leva, which...
European prosecutors are dragging Varna's ex-mayor Ivan Portnih and former regional boss Stoyan Pasev to court over allegedly faking paperwork to score 3.4 million euros for fixing up a port that does not actually exist. Stella Nikolova from the opposition dropped the tip to EU authorities after watching this mess unfold since 2020, and she went off about how the interior minister was publicly backing Portnih despite the corruption allegations floating around.
Nikolova threw shade at Bulgarian courts for being political tools while praising European justice for actually getting things done. She called out tonight's protests against the budget proposal, telling people to show up and push back against what she sees as widespread theft by...
Professor Mihail Konstantinov and journalist Emilia Milcheva told viewers that weak opposition basically gives the government free rein to do whatever, and street demonstrations right now lack clear demands or endgames. Konstantinov admitted he cannot figure out what protesters actually want, while Milcheva pointed out that nobody has a game plan for what happens after toppling the current system. The opposition groups are all over the map politically, which makes a unified strategy impossible.
Small business owners feel like they got robbed through higher insurance payments and dividend taxes, but Konstantinov thinks the budget drama will not tank anything since the country can just run on last year's numbers divided by twelve...
Sofia cops are setting up security checkpoints ahead of another budget protest, with the police chief saying they got intel about potential troublemakers planning to start problems. Officers will screen people who caused issues at previous demonstrations, and they want protest organizers to help spot anyone gearing up for illegal moves.
The department basically told city officials to shut everything down if things get messy, saying peaceful demonstrators are fine, but aggressive types destroying government property or attacking officers will get bounced immediately. Mass demonstrations blew up recently over proposed insurance hikes and dividend taxes in the spending plan, pulling thousands of people to the government district before...
Former deputy Guncheva thinks parliament turned into a middle-school roast battle instead of actually passing laws, and she doubts most lawmakers even cracked open the 718-page budget document that sparked street protests. Defense spending got nearly triple what education received, which basically signals that Europe wants everyone gearing up for conflict rather than building schools.
The demonstrations were not really about tax policy or social security hikes, according to Guncheva. She claims opposition parties just weaponized public anger to grab power and government cash for themselves. The reform movement used protesters as props while trying to muscle back into the cabinet, and wealthy business owners getting hit with dividend...
