Bulgarians marched in the streets en masse on Sunday in protest of corruption and poverty in the EU’s poorest country, despite the resignation of the previous Prime Minister and his cabinet, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Outgoing Prime Minister Boiko Borisov resigned after two weeks of protests that saw Bulgarians chanting slogans of “mafia” and “resign” in front of Parliament, the Economist reported.

The protests were originally targeted against electricity and fuel prices, but have since morphed into anti-government protests expressing general discontent with poor living standards and perceived corruption. Police and demonstrators have clashed violently on several occasions, and dozens of protestors have been injured and arrested. At least two men have set themselves on fire in protest.

Despite multiple attempts to quell the protests, including agreeing to revoke the license of a much-hated Czech-based energy company, stability continued to elude Borisov’s government. The Prime Minister sacked Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, whose austerity program was highly unpopular, but to no avail. Borisov finally caved to the pressure, submitting his resignation on February 21 and officially resigning along with his cabinet on February 27. That, too, failed to calm the storm, and Sunday saw continued protests across the country, with more than 50,000 demonstrators taking part in the largest action in the city of Varna.

New elections are set for May 12.

https://reportingproject.net/occrp/index.php/en/ccwatch/cc-watch-briefs/1862-bulgaria-government-resignation-fails-to-halt-protests