Three years after giant protests, Bulgarians’ hopes dashed

iskoisko 16/04/2023 226 Views

Sunday 16 April 2023 1:34 PM, BG

“As voters head to the polls Sunday for the fifth time in two years, the optimism felt by many of the demonstrators has proved short-lived”

Bulgarians took to the streets in 2020 in the biggest protests since the end of communism, aiming to push out longtime premier Boyko Borisov who was mired in corruption claims.

Hoping it would be a first step to cleaning up public life, the protesters unleashed a spiral of elections.

As voters head to the polls Sunday for the fifth time in two years, the optimism felt by many of the demonstrators has proved short-lived.

The pessimists

Despite his frustration with the system, construction engineer Konstantin Varbenov, 57, said he would “absolutely” vote again.

Even so, he sees little chance of a stable government to end the string of interim cabinets appointed by pro-Russian President Rumen Radev, himself the target of recent protests.