Bulgaria cabinet faces tough task of tackling poverty

A yellow brick road, Boulevard Tsar Osvoboditel, leads from the presidential palace past the parliament building. The bricks were donated as a wedding present for Ferdinand I and Princess Marie in 1893.

Just behind the parliament, Zhivko Hristov and his friends from the Eagles’ Bridge movement have been camped for the past week. Eagles’ Bridge has been the starting point for the daily protest marches in Sofia.

“Bulgaria’s financial stability has been built on the backs of the ordinary people,” says Mr Hristov.

He offers the following analogy: “Twenty-three years ago my toilet wasn’t working, so I called the plumber. I’ve been paying him patiently for 23 years, and now I finally ask him why it’s still not working. ‘You tell me how to fix it!’ he says.”

He supports the president’s idea of more EU oversight of what happens in Bulgaria – the international audit.

“It has become impossible to live here. Please help us to fix our country, and then we’ll stay. If we can’t survive here, we will come to your countries, and start searching for a job, and start taking your workplaces.”

Beside the improvised camp, a small shrine to Plamen Goranov has been set up. Goranov died on 3 March of his injuries, after apparently setting himself on fire outside the mayor’s office in Varna.