Bulgarian Village Protests against Landfill Project near Historic Monument

Bulgarian MEP Angel Dzhambazki, Bulgarian MEP and Deputy Chair of VMRO, photo by BGNES

Protesters from the Southwest Bulgarian village of Banya came to the streets on Friday to express their disagreement with a government project to build a landfill close to a historic monument.

Public dissatisfaction is caused by the fact that the landfill will be located next to a 17th century church of historic importance near the village of Debar.

The discussion has been ongoing for seven years now. Meanwhile, civil association Banenska Buna has filed several lawsuits against the municipality.

According to locals, the landfill could case a range of health problems and reduced tourism revenues.
Bulgarian MEP Angel Dzhambazki stated his support for the civil unrest.

Several of the previous protests over the matter have been organized by Bulgarian nationalist coalition Patriotic Front.

The Patriotic Front is a nationalist electoral alliance in Bulgaria around the political parties VMRO – Bulgarian National Movement (VMRO - Bulgarsko Natsionalno Dvizhenie) and National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB) and is currently supporting the governing party in Bulgaria, GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria).

Dzhambazki, Deputy Chair of the VMRO, has alerted the European Commission to the case and the official response is expected soon, as reported by the Bulgarian National Radio.

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