MPs who were blocked in the parliament while a protest against the 2026 budget was taking place outside were taken out and left the building. They left 45 minutes after midnight, BNT reported.
The protest began at 6:00 p.m., when protesters began gathering in front of the National Assembly, and a little later they blocked all entrances and exits of the building so that the MPs who were considering the 2026 budget in committee could not leave the building. An improvised barricade of garbage containers was also built.
Three police officers were injured while performing their duties to maintain public order, the Sofia Directorate of Internal Affairs reported.
The protest lasted more than six hours and ended after midnight, BTA reported.
Earlier, the gathered citizens formed a human chain around the National Assembly building and booed the deputies as they left the building.
The organizers of the protest are the PP "We Continue the Change". The protest was attended by the leader of "Moral, Unity, Honor" MECH Radostin Vassilev, and flags of "Vazrazhdane" were visible among the protesters. The protesters chanted "Mafia" and "Boyko - snot". Among the posters were "The budget is broken, we don't want bankruptcy", "No consensus? No second reading.", "You are doing white people with our money", "I want a future in Bulgaria", "We are fed up! We want to live normally".
The budget is not numbers, the budget is about who you care about and where you give all our, common money that we have given to the state, the chairman of "We continue the change" (PP) Asen Vassilev told the protesters. According to him, the rulers want to take people's money to give it to double the salaries of the Commission for the Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property, for 6,000 leva more per month per person in the Supreme Judicial Council and to fill "a few piggy banks".
They also want to take the Bulgarian sports lottery, said the co-chairman of "Yes, Bulgaria" Ivaylo Mirchev. As they say - let's go back to the roots, to the beginning of business, to the beginning of the millennium, when Peevski and his family began to rob Bulgaria precisely through the lottery, Mirchev also said.
The Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria (AIKB) had also issued an appeal for participation in a protest against the draft budget for 2026. This evening, the AIKB expressed gratitude to the citizens who joined today's protest at the so-called triangle of power. The organization stated that they support the active civic position and see in the presence of the protesters the protection of a sustainable, stable and competitive economy, as well as financial and national security and fair incomes.
"As a nationally represented employers' organization, we do not take political positions, do not identify with parties - parliamentary or extra-parliamentary, we do not encourage personal ambitions. The guiding principle for us is the approach of openness, commitment and finding long-term, sustainable solutions - an approach that we have consistently, systematically and resolutely defended over the years", the employers' organization stated. According to them, the development of the current budget procedure has not allowed for a real debate and finding optimal solutions. The AIKB recalled in its position that in connection with the 2026 budget, they presented a package of measures with a total positive effect of over 6 billion leva, while the currently proposed draft budget includes measures that, in their opinion, could lead to an increase in the tax burden and a slowdown in economic growth.
The official start time for the protest was 6:00 p.m., but people had gathered in front of the National Assembly building to watch the meeting of the parliamentary committee on budget and finance on a large screen.
The committee scheduled an extraordinary meeting at 12:20 p.m. today, at which the draft budgets of the state social security and the National Health Insurance Fund for 2026 will be considered on second reading. The earlier hour caused disagreements among the deputies, with Asen Vassilev from the PP-DB indicating that he would not allow this committee to meet during the break of the plenary session of the National Assembly. The committee adopted both budgets on second reading - the draft budget of the National Health Insurance Fund for 2026 and the budget for the state social security for 2026.
Regarding the doctors' protests, Vasil Pandov from the PP-DB commented that in order to stay in Bulgaria under these conditions, you have to be something more than noble. You have to be a truly good person, he pointed out.
I really hope we show that all Bulgarians have some limits. These people cannot afford this outrage indefinitely, not because they have any conscience, but because there are enough Bulgarian citizens ready to fight for their own rights, Kiril Petkov pointed out at the protest.
There were moments of escalation when protesters tried to turn a police van on "Dondukov" Blvd., but were pushed away by gendarmerie.
We do not want provocations, we want everything to be peaceful and not to provoke the police. We want the protests to be peaceful and calm. This was said by the co-chairman of "Yes, Bulgaria" Ivaylo Mirchev at the protest against the budget organized by the PP "We Continue the Change".
We expect those who adopt a budget and change laws in a way that has nothing to do with parliamentary practice to understand that this will not be acceptable, Nikolay Denkov, co-chair of the parliamentary group of "We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria" (PP-DB), told BTA.
Around 10:00 p.m., a live video was broadcast on the Facebook page of "We Continue the Change", showing that deputies from "DPS – New Beginning" were still in the parliament building. Ivaylo Mirchev called on them to come out to the protesters to explain the draft budget for 2026 to them. Bayram Bayram replied that from "DPS-New Beginning" they are constantly with the people, talking to them and traveling around the country, and the PP only has the yellow paving stones left. Nikolay Denkov from the PP was also with Mirchev.
The SDVR announced that three police officers were injured in the performance of their official duties to maintain public order. During a protest declared as peaceful in front of the National Assembly building this evening, some of the protesters attempted to break through the cordon and threw bottles and pirates at the police officers. The two officers were transported to a hospital for medical examinations, the Sofia Police said.