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As for our expert opinion: we are heading to Bulgaria. Last week, nearly 100,000 people filled the central square in Sofia to protest against the current coalition government, with similar demonstrations breaking out in Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, and towns across the country. We asked Aleksandar Malinov to walk us through what’s really happening.

Enjoy reading this week’s “brief”!

— Giorgi Beroshvili, Editor

On the evening of December 1st 2025, around 100,000 people filled the central square of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, to protest against the current coalition government. Massive protests were also happening in Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, as well as in many of the smaller towns across the country. Although the rallies were formally organized by the pro-European opposition parties to protest the ruling coalition’s plans for the 2026 state budget, they quickly swelled around a deeper frustration: years of popular resentment over corruption and lack of reforms. Bulgaria has long been the EU’s poorest member and ranks second-lowest on the anti-corruption index, just behind Hungary.

The current protests follow a spiral of public discontent and political scandals dating back to the spring of 2025. In April, a public-transport strike in Sofia – organized by union structures seen as close to the governing coalition — was widely interpreted as a politically-motivated attempt to undermine the city’s mayor, Vasil Terziev; partly because he had refused cooperation with figures such as the politician/oligarch Delyan Peevski. Terziev called the strike a “political attack”, prompting a large demonstration in his support.

Analysts argue the move against Terziev was part of broader pressure placed on mayors across Bulgaria who declined to align themselves with Peevski’s expanding political–economic network. Meanwhile, through his party structures, Peevski spent 2025 systematically consolidating influence among local leaders, “welcoming” numerous mayors into his regional-development platform in what critics describe as an exchange of support for loyalty. This dynamic culminated in the arrest of Varna’s mayor, Blagomir Kotsev, on what the opposition denounced as fabricated corruption charges — an event which triggered large protests in both Varna and Sofia. After spending five months in custody, Kotsev was released on bail for 100,000 euros, an extraordinarily high sum by Bulgarian standards and virtually unheard-of in similar cases.

Meanwhile, in order to fuel anti-EU sentiment, pro-Russian circles in Bulgarian politics have driven a parallel wave of protests opposing Bulgaria’s planned adoption of the euro from 2026. One such demonstration in February in Sofia escalated into violence, leaving police officers injured and involving members of parliament from the pro-Russian “Revival” party. State prosecutors sought to remove the MPs’ parliamentary immunity in order to pursue charges related to vandalism and assault, but the ruling coalition declined to support the motion — effectively shielding the deputies from prosecution and further inflaming public frustration.

Revival and the pro-Russian president, Rumen Radev, initially tried to join the December protest wave and support the public demands, but did not see much love from the overwhelmingly pro-European crowds. One way Bulgarian society pushed back against the propaganda pressure from Moscow and its proxies in Sofia was through the widespread attention garnered by the documentary film Architects of Chaos, which exposed the networks and techniques behind large-scale disinformation campaigns. The film reached millions of viewers, and helped citizens — especially younger audiences — recognize and resist manipulation.

In a similar trend to what we are seeing in the current mass protests in Georgia and Serbia, Gen-Z, the youth of Bulgaria, is widely seen as having a significant role in the demonstrations in Sofia and elsewhere. Young Bulgarians, angry and frustrated from years of corruption, political stagnation and democratic backsliding — have led the mass protests. Their demonstrations, marked by a more hopeful, confident tone than previous protest waves, signalled a generational push for deeper reforms rather than just a change of government. Many participants described a sense of renewed civic power and a belief that collective action can force accountability from the state, thereby raising expectations that this momentum could fuel broader political change in the months ahead.

What’s next?

Although the controversial budget proposal was withdrawn, the protesters remained unsatisfied, now calling for the government’s full resignation and early elections. The next wave of demonstrations is scheduled for December 10th, coinciding with a confidence vote in the Bulgarian parliament. Organizers plan to be especially vigilant to prevent a repeat of last week’s clashes, when masked men dress in all black — with alleged ties to the authorities — provoked police and sparked violent disorder in Sofia. This echoes similar patterns seen in Serbia and Georgia, where violent pro-government groups have been deployed against demonstrators with the assistance of the police.

What is unfolding in Bulgaria feels less like a passing surge of discontent and more like a loud turning point, maybe even a revolution. The demands rising from the streets and the vast amount of people in the demonstrations point towards the need for a deeper public renegotiation of how state power should work, how rule of law is structured and observed, and what citizens expect from their government.

— Aleksandar Malinov, Freelance Journalist and Analyst