Sofia Mayor Refuses to Ban Protests Despite Socialist, Ultranationalist Pressure

Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova has refused to abolish the ongoing mass anti-government rallies in the Bulgarian capital – even though left-wing municipal council members and ultranationalist MPs keep insisting that she should do so.

“Despite the enormous pressure, I am standing by my stance that issuing an order to abolish the protests would be a very dangerous and inadequate action in the current situation,” Fandakova has told the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.

The Mayor, who was elected on the ticket of the formerly-ruling center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, is adamant a ban will lead to clashes with riot police and to violence.

On Saturday, lawmakers from extremist nationalist party Ataka violently disrupted a sitting of the Sofia Municipal Council, dedicated to security in the capital. Ataka, which is informally backing the Socialist-led government, accused Fandakova of supporting the relentless anti-government rallies in Sofia because she refuses to ban them.

Sunday marks the 45th straight day of massive anti-government protests in the Bulgarian capital.

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