Demonstrators attempt to storm Bulgarian Parliament over new COVID-19 restrictions

Violence broke out as protestors in Sofia, Bulgaria, tried to storm Parliament on January 12, 2022, in opposition to the country’s new COVID-19 restrictions.

Several people, including several Bulgarian police officers, were injured when police stopped protesters from entering the building. Police were able to blockade the area and push back the protestors.

“The aim of the protest is to remove the restrictive measures and especially, first of all, the unconstitutional green certificate,” Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of the Vazrazhdane party, said ahead of the protest. 

The nationalist group, which holds 13 seats in Parliament’s 240-seat chamber, has won support among opponents of coronavirus restrictions. Close to 1,000 protesters waved national flags and sang patriotic songs.  They remained at the square in front of the National Assembly, saying they planned to stay there until their demands for abolishing the mandatory face masks and green vaccination status passes are met.

Current mandates in the country include wearing masks indoors and while using public transport. The U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria also says scarves are not an acceptable substitution for a mask, according to the Inquirer.

To enter public areas such as restaurants, cafes, malls and gyms, citizens must show a health pass that says they’ve either been vaccinated, recovered or recently tested negative for the virus. However, to cope with the recent surge, Bulgarian lawmakers recently voted to make the health pass mandatory to enter Parliament starting January 24.

Speaking from his home, where he is quarantined for contact with an infected person, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov called for calm and invited representatives of the protesters to his office on Friday to discuss their demands.