Social Tensions in Bulgaria to Escalate after New Year - Unionist

The relentless anti-government protests were given a fresh boost as students staged full and partial blockades at a number of universities in October. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Bulgarian rulers did not enjoy a quietish autumn, but the new year will bring the real storms, a trade union leader has forecast.

"Social tensions will escalate and break out into the street after the Christmas and New Year celebrations are over,“ Konstantin Trenchev, leader of Podkrepa trade union, told Nova TV channel on Thursday.

“Today, the protesting students embody the dreams my generation had back in 1989, when the communist regime officially collapsed. These people want to see radical changes, but this will never happen as long as the political elite thinks only about the money in their bank accounts.”

Trenchev warned that shortly after the New Year holidays much bigger clashes will erupt as revenues will dwindle to a trickle and people will be forced more and more often to take out loans.

Wednesday marked the 153rd day of relentless anti-government rallies in Bulgaria.

The protests were triggered by the appointment of controversial media mogul Delyan Peevski as Chair of the State Agency for National security (DANS) in June – and were fueled by a number of other controversial appointments and wider concerns about corruption.

The rallies were given a fresh boost as students staged full and partial blockades at a number of universities in October.

Tensions escalated on Tuesday, as police cracked down on a massive anti-graft rally in Sofia.

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