For 61 days straight, Bulgarians have gathered on the streets of Sofia, the capital, chanting one word over and over: “Ostavka, Ostavka.” It means “Resignation, Resignation.”
They’re calling on Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, along with his government and the country’s chief prosecutor, Ivan Geshev, to stand down.
Valentina Dolmova, 32, is among the protesters most nights. The organizational psychologist, who often attends the marches with her mother, Tatyana, says she feels an obligation to be there.
“I don’t have a moral alternative. This is a sacrifice that you have to do. Otherwise, you basically settle for something that’s immoral. That’s how I see it,“ she says.
The nightly demonstrations began in early July, triggered by a heavily armed police raid on the offices of staff linked to the country’s President Rumen Radev. The president is a vocal critic of Borisov and openly disapproved of the appointment of chief prosecutor Geshev in 2019.
Protesters say the raid was a deliberate attempt to delay investigations into corruption by the country’s political elite. Leaked audio recordings of Borisov crudely mouthing off about a political colleague also stoked anger. Around the same time, there was also a photo that circulated online of Borisov lying across a bed, a gun at his side and a drawer overflowing with cash nearby. But the prime minister says the picture was photoshopped.
Allegations of corruption have dogged Borisov’s government for years. Bulgaria is ranked as the most corrupt country in the European Union by Transparency International. The judiciary has come under intense criticism, too, for its failure to prosecute those involved in fraudulent practices.
Petar Cholakov, associate professor with the Institute of Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, says the public is exhausted with the litany of revelations of underhand behavior by those in power.
“People are fed up with corruption. Fed up with duplicity, fed up with Prime Minister Borisov’s actions,” Cholakov says.
Corruption runs deep in Bulgarian society, according to Cholakov, and ordinary citizens fall into the trap, too. If asked for a bribe, they’re prepared to give it because they think that nothing else is going to solve the problem, he says. Public hospitals are not immune either.
“Conditions, especially in public hospitals, are not particularly nice and people are prepared to give money to doctors and nurses to help them get an urgent operation or whatever,” Cholakov says.