Bulgaria: Five charged over clash at House of Europe building during protest led by pro-Kremlin party
Five people, one a minor, are facing criminal charges in connection with the clash with police and vandalism at the House of Europe building in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia during a protest led by pro-Kremlin minority party Vuzrazhdane against Bulgaria adopting the euro, it was announced on February 23.
Initially, seven were arrested during the February 22 clash, which saw fireworks, red paint and eggs hurled at the building, which houses representative offices of the European Parliament and European Commission. The door was set on fire. Ten police were injured in confrontations with protesters.
However, two of those held were released because as members of Parliament, they have immunity from prosecution.
The charges, of aggravated hooliganism, were announced by Sofia deputy district prosecutor Atanas Dotsinki and Interior Ministry officials.
If found guilty, the adults could face up to five years in prison and the minors up to two years in prison.
Interior Minister Daniel Mitov told Bulgarian National Television on February 23 that further arrests were possible.
Mitov, who held an emergency meeting on the night of February 22 with senior Interior Ministry staff, has ordered video recordings to be scrutinised to identify those responsible for the clash.
There has been widespread condemnation of the protesters’ actions, including from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and leaders of political parties in Bulgaria.
At a news conference on February 23, Vuzrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov not only did not condemn the vandalism, but also called for civil disobedience and hinted that his party – which has 35 seats in Bulgaria’s 240-seat Parliament – would disrupt the sitting of the National Assembly during the next anti-euro protest, scheduled for February 26.
Kostadinov said that he was “extremely proud” of those who attended the protest and called them “worthy people”. He repeated, without evidence, his customary allegations that data were being manipulated to take Bulgaria into the euro zone.
He alleged that those arrested had been “humiliated” on the orders of Boiko Borissov, leader of GERB-UDF, the majority partner in the coalition government, calling Borissov a “demented dictator” and saying that “his fate will be the same as that of other dictators – Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi or Zelenskyy, let him choose what to be”.
Kostadinov alleged that those taken into custody had been stripped to their underwear in a cold room.
The Interior Ministry responded to this allegation with a statement saying that Sofia Interior Ministry officers had acted within the framework of the law and in compliance with the relevant provisions.
The ministry said that during the procedure, a “person with immunity” – meaning, an MP – had filmed, in spite of warnings from the police that this was against the rules and regulations.
It said that the detainees had been promptly provided with other clothes brought by their relatives.
On Facebook, GERB rejected Kostadinov’s allegations about Borissov.
This is not the first incident of vandalism of the House of Europe building involving Vuzrazhdane.
As The Sofia Globe reported at the time, participants in a so-called “March for Peace” hurled red paint at the building in May 2023.
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