Bulgarian Opposition Parties Organize Protests Against New BGN 16 B Debt

Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the nationalists from Ataka organized protests on Wednesday regarding the proposal made by Financial Minister Vladislav Goranov on a new BGN 16 B debt.

Bulgarian Parliament is currently debating on the proposal and will either reject or approve it by the end of the day, while protesters outside of the building are screaming ''We will not pay!''.

Among the Ataka supporters can be seen posters saying ''We don't want a debt to finance a war against Russia!'', and ''No war loans!''. Some of the people who came from various parts of the country to Sofia today said that they refuse to oblige their children and grandchildren to pay for decades.

The protest is said to turn into a mass event and to move from the outskirts of Parliament to the Council of Ministers' building with people carrying a banner stating ther opposition to the debt.

The protests of BSP supporters are also ongoing. One of the leaders of the opposition party, Maya Manolova stated earlier that a year ago, when the BSP government led by PM Plamen Oresharski engaged in a debt of BGN 1,5 B, Boyko Borisov stated his disapproval. The current PM then said that whenever there is a lack of transparency, there are prerequisities for corruption and murky deals. Manolova added that now, the prerequisites have increased by 16 times.

Meanwhile, the organizers of the protest continue distributing mock BGN 10,000 bank notes to demonstrate the obligation that each Bulgarian citizen will have towards creditors in case the debt proposal is approved in Parliament.