(28 Jun 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sofia, Bulgaria – 28 June 2025
1. Supporter of pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party holding Bulgarian flags and poster reading (Bulgarian) "Yes to Bulgarian lev"
2. Protester blowing vuvuzela
3. Demonstrator with banner reading (Bulgarian): "Euro area is a trap"
4. Wide of protest with supporters of nationalist and pro-Russian parties holding Bulgarian flags and banners
5. Protesters
6. SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Boyko Kolarov, protester:
"I am here to stand up for our freedom — the freedom to remain Bulgarians and to preserve our national currency. That is my first and foremost priority. Secondly, joining the Eurozone is a one-way path, it’s like entering a room with no exit. It’s a trap in the sense that there is no formal procedure for leaving the euro area once you’re in."
7. Protesters holding pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party flags and Bulgarian national flags
8. Protester beating drum
9. Wide of protesters chanting UPSOUND (Bulgarian): "Resignation"
10. Demonstrators chanting UPSOUND (Bulgarian): "Victory"
11. Woman holding Bulgarian flag
12. SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Rosalina Gyobeklieva, protester:
"I support the protest because I believe the Bulgarian lev is a vital part of our national sovereignty. I’m concerned about joining a Eurozone where financial decisions are often made without transparency. I do not want our financial resources to be used to fund wars, and I believe that the levels of corruption — both in Bulgaria and within the EU — are already too high for us to become more deeply integrated into such a system."
13. Woman holding banner reading (Bulgarian): "Resignation"
14. Man holding banner depicting Euro sign and reading (Bulgarian) “NO”
15. Protester wearing Russia branded t-shirt
16. Protesters holding old communist flags
17. Man holding old flag of Bulgarian Youth Communist Organisation with image of Lenin
18. Police standing guard in front of Sofia municipality
19. Protester shouting UPSOUND (Bulgarian): "Police out of here"
20. Police blocking street close to EU representative’s offices
21. Police standing guard
22. Police vans blocking street near EU building in Sofia ++NIGHT SHOT++
STORYLINE:
Days before Bulgaria was expected to become the 21st member of the eurozone, opponents of the move geared up Saturday for a final battle to change the schedule.
Thousands of protesters gathered on a central square in downtown Sofia to protest government plans to adopt the euro and to demand a referendum on the new currency.
The European Union has given the green light for Bulgaria to adopt the euro starting January 1.
The protesters, led by civic groups, nationalist and pro-Russian parties known for their opposition to the euro, declared that after the rally they intended to set up a tent camp on the central square, dubbed “Town of the lev,” after the name of the national currency.
On a platform for speakers hung a huge banner that read “The battle for the Bulgarian lev is the last battle for Bulgaria.”
The leader of the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party Kostadin Kostadinov told the protesters that the country will be stripped of its currency.
Kostadinov announced that lawmakers from Germany, Lithuania, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have joined the event to support the protest.
Ahead of the demonstration, Vazrazhdane submitted in Parliament a motion for a vote of no confidence in the current government, accusing it of failing to undertake necessary reforms to restore stability to public finances and working for the forceful adoption of the euro.
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