During yesterday's anti-government protests in Sofia, Varna, and several other Bulgarian cities, the pro-Russian Vzrazhdane party demanded the resignation of Kirill Petkov's government.
This was reported by Free Europe.
The demonstration in the capital city was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in front of the National Assembly. Shortly after 8:00 p.m., protesters approached the Sofia Municipality building on Moskovskaya Street, where they made an unsuccessful attempt to remove the Ukrainian flag from the facade.
The Ukrainian flag was hung there by decision of Sofia City Council as a symbolic gesture in support of Ukraine in its support against the unprovoked military invasion launched by Russia on February 24.
Party head Kostadin Kostadinov was at the scene. A week earlier, his fellow party members had briefly removed the Ukrainian flag from the facade, after which city officials quickly replaced it with a new one. At the time, Vzrazhdane activists used the tower to reach for the flag. Their action was not stopped by police guarding the building.
On Wednesday, however, police formed a boundary in front of Sofia Municipality, which caused brief tension. There was even a physical confrontation with the protesters and an unsuccessful attempt to overturn a gendarmerie bus by several Vzrazhdane supporters.
Dozens of pro-Russian protesters gathered in front of the parliament during the demonstration. This time they were not carrying Russian flags, but only Bulgarian and party flags. Protesters chanted calls for Kirill Petkov's resignation.
"Vzrazhdane" is the parliamentary party after elections at the end of 2021. It is one of seven parties in the current National Assembly and is in opposition along with the GERB and the GNS. Its leader Kostadin Kostadinov opposed vaccination against COVID-19 and called for Bulgaria to leave NATO and the European Union.