Bulgaria Keeps Taking to the Streets. Why Does So Little Change?
Bulgaria Keeps Taking to the Streets. Why Does So Little Change? Removing powerful politicians will not dismantle the networks that sustain them. That requires confronting what happens when public institutions stop meeting people’s needs. The protest sign had already been used once. “This sign is from 2020,” it read. “I don’t want to be carrying it again in 2030.” I came across it while scrolling through Instagram posts about Bulgaria’s protests against the proposed 2026 budget. It was a good slogan. It was also a diagnosis. Every few years, Bulgarians return to the streets demanding political change. The dates have become a shorthand for the country’s recent history and political time: 1997, 2013, 2020. Each wave brings new participants, new expectations and the conviction that this time something might finally give. The latest mobilisation, like its predecessors, is being described as a departure from what came before. This time it is “the protest of Generation Z". Instagram a...