Protests against the Oresharsky government in Bulgaria in 2013

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The protests against the Oresharski government in Bulgaria are ongoing protests not only against the incumbent government, but also against all political parties that have been represented in the Bulgarian parliament since the 2013 elections and are accused of extensive corruption and close ties to organized crime . The protesters throw the political actors that the politicians of these parties in principle not care about the welfare of the people or the electorate, but only the economic interests of the mafia - oligarchs represented. The Borissov government had resigned at the beginning of 2013 due to massive protests against excessively high electricity prices.

The protests started on June 14, 2013 and have taken place every day since then, mainly in the Bulgarian capital , Sofia . Tens of thousands, mostly from the middle class , often take part in the demonstrations, demanding the immediate resignation of the government of Plamen Oresharski , changes in the electoral law and early parliamentary elections.

The protests began in response to the filling of important state posts by politicians who are believed to have close ties to organized crime. But related ecological issues also angered the population: the damage to nature through commercial construction projects, expansion plans for the Belene nuclear power plant and others.

In 2013 there were repeated self-immolations in protest against the government.

prehistory

Prime Minister Plamen Orescharski's interim government has been in office since March 13, 2013. The cabinet was formed after nationwide protests against the Borisov government and early parliamentary elections on May 29, 2013. As early as the second week of his term in office, there were nationwide protests over the filling of important state posts by political figures from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) from the Stanishev government and the breaking of election promises.

The first protests took place on May 28, 2013 at a demonstration with initially only 200 participants at the Eagle Bridge in Sofia. The protest was organized by environmentalists. They formed a coalition of NGOs and citizen groups under the name “So that nature remains in Bulgaria” (Bulgarian “За да остане природа в България”).

Shortly after the election of the cabinet, protests against it were organized in Burgas . These protests were held on June 2nd and continued as nationwide protests against the Oresharsky cabinet. On June 2nd, protests took place in several Bulgarian cities: Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas and others. Around 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Sofia, 300 in Plovdiv and several hundred in other cities. In Sofia, the demonstrators blocked central streets for four hours and also gathered in front of the party headquarters of BSP, DPS and ATAKA. In Plovdiv and Varna, protesters blocked traffic on some major streets.

trigger

The protests were triggered by the election of the media mogul Deljan Peewski as head of the State Agency for National Security (DANS). Peewski, 33 years old at the time of his appointment , is said to have had close ties to organized crime . News of Peewski's appointment as security chief angered many Bulgarians, including 44-year-old Asen Genov, who was so angry that he immediately called his friends on Facebook to protest. Nobody expected more than 500 people to come to the event announced by Genov. When, in fact, a few hours after Peewski's election, thousands flocked to the venue, everyone involved was very surprised.

course

Until July 23, the protests took the form of peaceful demonstrations , in which tens of thousands of people, mostly from the middle class, take part every day . They are protesting not only against the government of Plamen Oresharski , but against all the parties represented in parliament and against the entire political system which (in the opinion of the protesters) only serves the interests of the mafia oligarchy . Four parties have been represented in the Bulgarian Parliament since the elections in May 2013 :

There are protests against all four parties and almost all politicians of these parties are accused of extensive corruption and close ties (or even affiliation) with the oligarchy and organized crime . The only politician who still enjoys a broad reputation among the population is President Rossen Plevneliev , who also supports the protests.

Escalation on the night of July 23rd to 24th

The protests were peaceful until July 23, 2013. On June 23, 2013, the 40th day of the protests, and the following night, there were violent clashes with the police.

On July 23, 2013, thousands of protesters blocked the Parliament building in Narodno Sabranje after it became known that the Budget Committee had decided to increase budget spending for 2013. This should be covered by a loan, whereby Bulgaria should take on another billion euros in debt. As it is known from numerous corruption scandals that in the past a substantial part of such money was not used for a specific purpose but rather disappeared in companies controlled by Mafia oligarchs, the news caused great excitement among the protesters. They blocked the parliament building for several hours, in which there were more than 100 people, including three ministers, dozens of MPs and numerous journalists. Violent scenes and injuries occurred when the police tried to take the ministers and some of the MPs out of parliament and away.

A first attempt to take the MPs away by bus around 11 pm local time failed. A window on the bus that was supposed to be used to evacuate the parliamentarians was also broken. Only with a strong police presence (in Bulgaria the main Gendarmerie Directorate - part of the Bulgarian police - is responsible for protecting parliament) the MPs were able to leave the building after midnight.

Occupation of various universities

In October 2013 the country's universities were occupied. Lecture halls at the Acting Academy and the New Bulgarian University in Sofia, the second largest state university in the city of Veliko Tarnovo and the University of Plovdiv were occupied.

Reactions

The government's silence

Orescharski's government shows little understanding for the protesters' demands and tries to “pretend normality”. Nevertheless, the government resigned after 420 days of protests.

Counter protest in Sofia

Approx. 100 supporters of the government camp demonstrate in Sofia and demand that the government of Plamen Oresharski be given a chance and let them work in peace.

Support to Bulgarian society

A representative survey by the Alfa Research polling institute shows that 85 percent of Bulgarians support the protests (as of June 20, 2013).

Support from the German and French ambassadors in Sofia

Germany's ambassador to Bulgaria Matthias Höpfner and his French colleague Philippe Autir have warned the Bulgarian government with "unusually undiplomatic words" : "Membership in the European Union is a civilizational decision" and: "The oligarchical model has no place in it."

Support from the EPP Group's security spokesman in the European Parliament

Michael Gahler , MEP and security spokesman for the EPP group in the European Parliament , reacted at lightning speed on June 14, 2013 and the “attack-like” amendment to the secret service law and the appointment of the “controversial media mogul” Deljan Peewski, the “close Relationships with Bulgarian mafia oligarchs are rumored ”,“ condemned in the strongest possible terms ”. In his reply to an open letter from 103 Bulgarians living in Germany, Gahler also expressed his solidarity with the protesters.

Media presentation of the protests

In Bulgaria, the protests were either ignored or distorted by the Deljan Peewskis media group, which includes the daily newspapers “Monitor” and “Telegraph”, the weekly newspaper “Weekend” and the television channels “TV 7” and “TV 7 News”. The protests are the subject of the daily newspapers “Trud” and “Sega”. A detailed description can be found on the pages of the “Economedia” press group, which includes the daily newspaper “Capital Daily”, the weekly newspaper “Capital” and the website dnevnik.bg.

Independent bloggers and activists made reports on the protests. The protests will be reported live on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

The protests in Bulgaria were also featured in the German media. Der Spiegel reported on the situation in Bulgaria. The evening news of the first German television station “Tagesschau” reported on the protests in Bulgaria.

In Austria the protests in Bulgaria were reported.

The protests were also covered by French media.

The hashtag #DANSwithme

The hashtag #DANSwithme ( Cyrillic : # ДАНСwithme) is used to mark data related to the protests against the Mafia in Bulgaria (news, blog entries , pictures, videos, etc.) on social networks and across the Internet. # ДАНСwithme is the result of a play on words with the name of the State Agency for National Security (Bulgarian: Darzhavna Agencia “Nacionalna Sigurnost”, DANS; Cyrillic : ДАНС) and the English “Dance with me!” (“Dance with me!”), which is pronounced similarly. The hashtag # ДАНСwithme has become one of the symbols of the protests because it emphasizes their peaceful, non-violent character.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ After protests: Bulgaria's government resigns . In: The time . February 20, 2013, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed April 27, 2016]).
  2. ^ Row in Bulgarian parliament over new security chief. In: BBC News . 14th of June 2013.
  3. ↑ Tsvetelina Tsolova: Bulgarians protests over media magnate as security chief. In: Reuters . 14th of June 2013.
  4. ↑ a b Reinhard Veser: Citizens against the Mafia. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . July 10, 2013.
  5. ↑ Tim Gerrit Köhler: Protests in Bulgaria against the head of government. Loss of confidence at a record pace. ( Memento from June 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: ARD, tagesschau.de . June 21th 2013.
  6. ↑ a b Michael Gahler, MEP and Security Policy Spokesman for the EPP Group in the European Parliament: Democracy at risk - Bulgaria threatens Ukrainian and Romanian conditions. Press release June 14, 2013.
  7. ↑ Milen Radev: News from the land of roses and muscle men. In: de-zorata.de. 14th of June 2013.
  8. ↑ a b Anthony Faiola and Paula Moura: Middle-class rage sparks protest movements in Turkey, Brazil, Bulgaria and beyond. In: The Washington Post . June 28, 2013.
  9. ^ A b New mass protests against government in Sofia. ( Memento from June 26, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Stuttgarter Zeitung . June 20, 2013.
  10. ↑ Protests in Bulgaria last for 25,000 demonstrators / President announces declaration. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . 5th July 2013.
  11. ^ Bulgaria: Anti-government protests continue. In: Euronews . July 9, 2013.
  12. ^ A b Protests in Sofia: Thousands of Bulgarians call for the prime minister to resign. In: Spiegel Online . June 20, 2013.
  13. ↑ a b Permanent protests in Bulgaria: Head of Parliament rejects new elections. In: Spiegel Online. June 26, 2013.
  14. ↑ a b c d e Ralf Borchard: Large demonstrations in Sofia. Bulgarians protest against government. ( Memento from July 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: ARD, tagesschau.de. July 10, 2013.
  15. ^ A b Protests against political class in Bulgaria. In: Deutsche Welle . June 26, 2013.
  16. ↑ Barbara Oertel: protests in Bulgaria: "Mafiosi, off to jail!" In: The daily , taz.de . 4th July 2013.
  17. ↑ a b Protests in Bulgaria: ministers and members of parliament are stuck in parliament for hours. In: Spiegel Online. July 24, 2013.
  18. ↑ The people besieged their representatives. taz.de. July 24, 2013.
  19. ↑ Demonstrators arrest politicians. In: Süddeutsche.de . July 24, 2013.
  20. ↑ Bulgaria's mighty ones will not win. In: Zeit Online . July 24, 2013.
  21. ↑ Bulgarian students occupy other universities. Retrieved August 2, 2016 .
  22. ↑ Government resigned after only 420 days. In: www.tagesspiegel.de. Retrieved August 2, 2016 .
  23. ↑ German ambassador reprimands the Bulgarian government. Sofia is said to cut ties to "oligarchs". In: The world . July 8, 2013.
  24. ^ Klaus Brill: Comment on protests in Bulgaria: Diplomats can also use plain text. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. 12th of July 2013.
  25. ↑ Александра Маркарян: 103-ма българи в Германия зоват политици и медии: Обърнете внимание нариягл! In: OffNews.bg, July 8, 2013.
  26. ↑ Will you # ДАНСwithme? How Bulgarian protesters are using social media. In: Euronews. 19th June 2013.

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