Bulgaria sees largest protests in years as anti-graft demonstrations turn violent Video

Tens of thousands of Bulgarians took to the streets on December 1 in one of the country’s largest protests in years, rallying against what they say is widespread government corruption and a controversial draft budget for 2026.

Demonstrations filled central Sofia and at least a dozen other cities, with organisers estimating around 50,000 people gathered in the capital, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

Crowds flooded the square in front of the National Assembly, chanting “Resignation!” while waving Bulgarian and EU flags. Protesters projected the words “Resign” and “Mafia” onto surrounding government buildings and held banners reading “Generation Z is coming” and “Young Bulgaria without the mafia.”

Protesters and police clash in Bulgaria anti-graft demonstration.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Sofia and other major regional centres across Bulgaria in an anti-government protest, triggered by the draft budget for 2026 that protesters say is an attempt to… pic.twitter.com/TzMYccb3Pa

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) December 2, 2025

Protesters accuse the government of attempting to disguise systemic corruption through the proposed 2026 draft budget, which includes higher taxes on dividends and increased social security contributions. They are demanding that the minority coalition government, led by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, withdraw the budget and step down.

While the main demonstration in Sofia remained peaceful, violence erupted later in the evening. Small groups of protesters clashed with police, throwing rocks, bottles, and firecrackers. Several garbage bins were set on fire, and a police van was destroyed,. Protesters also vandalised the headquarters of the ruling party and one of its coalition partners.

Police responded with pepper spray. At least 10 people were arrested, and two officers were injured, according to authorities.

President Rumen Radev, an independent, urged an end to the violence but also echoed protesters’ demands for the government to step down.

“There is only one way out: resignation and early elections,” he wrote on Facebook.

Bulgaria is currently governed by a minority coalition made up of GERB, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, and There Is Such a People (ITN). The country has struggled with political instability in recent years, with repeated elections failing to produce a stable majority.

By Sabina Mammadli