Bulgarian government resigns amid mass protests - VIDEO
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov submitted his government’s resignation on Thursday following weeks of street protests over its economic policies and perceived failure to tackle corruption.
Zhelyazkov announced his resignation in a televised statement just minutes before parliament was scheduled to vote on a no-confidence motion, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
🇧🇬Following a night of protests, the #Bulgarian Prime Minister announced the government's resignation, according to media reports.
— News.Az (@news_az) December 11, 2025
The day before, residents of the country's largest cities took to the streets to demand this. More than 100,000 people took part in the protests. pic.twitter.com/A37YbJuYo1
“Our coalition met, we discussed the current situation, the challenges we face and the decisions we must responsibly make,” Zhelyazkov said. “Our desire is to be at the level that society expects. Power stems from the voice of the people.”
Thousands of Bulgarians had rallied on Wednesday evening in Sofia and dozens of other towns across the country, the latest in a series of demonstrations highlighting public frustration with endemic graft and successive governments’ inability to address it.
Last week, Zhelyazkov’s government withdrew its 2026 budget plan—the first drafted in euros—due to the protests. Opposition parties and civic groups said they opposed plans to raise social security contributions and taxes on dividends to fund higher state spending.
Despite the government’s retreat on the budget, protests have continued in a nation that has held seven national elections in the past four years, most recently in October 2024, amid deep political and social divisions.
President Rumen Radev, who also called on the government to resign earlier this week, stated on Thursday: “Between the voice of the people and the fear of the mafia. Listen to the public squares!”
Radev, whose powers under the Bulgarian constitution are limited, will now ask parliamentary parties to try forming a new government. If they fail, he is expected to establish an interim administration to run the country until new elections can be held.
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