Petar Mladenov

Thirty-five years have passed since the pivotal beginning of Bulgaria's transition from a one-party system to democracy and a market economy.

Residents of Sofia's Ovcha Kupel neighborhood woke up to a scene of chaos as vandals wreaked havoc on parked cars overnight. According to reports from Nova TV, at least 12 vehicles were targeted on Tuesday, their windows shattered and exteriors damaged.

Romania was the only country facing wide spread violence during the 1989 revolutions; officially, 1,104 people died and 3,300 were injured. Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship, believed to be the most brutal and repressive in Eastern Europe, was without doubt one of the main reasons for such a tragic end - as the work ''The 1989 Revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe.

...<span>New Gallery 2017Bulgaria Marks 28 Years Since Fall of Communism/11/9</span><span>Bulgaria's Communist leader Todor Zhivkov in Berlin in 1963.

Zhelyu Zhelev, Bulgaria's first democratically-elected president, died on Jan. 30 at 79, his family says Zhelyu Zhelev, Bulgaria's first democratically-elected president, died on Jan. 30 at 79, his family told AFP.

Zhelyu Zhelev, the former President of Bulgaria from 1990 to 1997, has died, the press office of President Rosen Plevneliev announced.

Bulgaria's former President Zhelyu Zhelev (1990-1997) has died, the press office of President Rosen Plevneliev announced. 

Zhelev, Bulgaria's first democratically elected President after the fall of the Communist regime, died at the age of 79 on Friday.

He was a co-founder of the right-wing Union of Democratic Forces (UDF).