There is nothing wrong with the protests. On the contrary - this is good. They show that in Bulgaria there are still citizens with civic self-confidence. However, these protests must clearly indicate their reasons. This unfortunate budget, which is a real tragedy for Bulgaria, was presented as such a reason. The people who were in the square simply hated, I hated too. They are tired of being commanded by thieves and swindlers. And it is possible that they will come together again - we will see. He stated this to Lili Marinkova in the studio “FACTI“ and in the program “Conversation“ Prof. Velislav Minekov, former acting Minister of Culture.
„There were attempts at splits during the protests in 2020. Let me remind you that then the protests continued morning, noon and evening - in rain, in snow, at any time, with blocking of major Sofia intersections, including Orlov Most. Back then, we did not ask for permission, a route or instructions on where to hold the protest. For the first time, I understand, due to the arrests of young people now, that after 10:00 p.m. one cannot protest. We were at the intersections all night and were not arrested“, he added.
„The parliamentary opposition must take matters into its own hands and clearly explain what it is for and what it is against. I hope this will happen, but we will see. The strangest thing is that people who were not present at the protests in 2020 are today giving assessments in the media - which were the biggest protests and what their nature was. This saddens me. These are politicians and journalists - I will not call them your colleagues - who are purposefully trying to downplay the significance of the events of 2020. Back then, there was no mass public support, we lived in media silence. Only a few cable TV stations covered the protests. It was a secret how many people were in the square, the organization itself was also a secret - it was simply not talked about. At one point, a journalist from the national television, who enjoys a bad reputation, announced on the news that we had stated that there would be blood at the protests. This was extremely disturbing. I called the director general of BNT and stated that such a statement was not true and that the journalist must be refuted. She agreed, but a refutation was never issued, even though I warned of possible legal action“, Minekov also said.
“It is unlikely that anything fundamentally new will appear now. It is possible that some of the parties will change their leaders, but this does not solve the problem. It is a nasty job. In the parties, we are constantly faced with the typical Balkan model – to arrange a relative, to take something for ourselves. To be the chairman of such a formation, a lot is required, because you represent the more intelligent part of Bulgarian society - you must have charisma, look good, behave with dignity, give up aggression, speak clearly and convincingly, be a good speaker. When you put these qualities together, you have a chance. If one of them is missing – you are not in the right place“, concluded Prof. Minekov.
See more of the conversation in the VIDEO.