New York Times
PARIS — The Bulgarian police ended a blockade of Parliament on Wednesday that had trapped about a hundred lawmakers and ministers inside the building for more than eight hours as protesters vented their frustration with poor governance and rampant corruption and called for the center-left government to step down.
Seized by a spirit of popular dissent that has recently galvanized
people from the squares of Istanbul to the streets of Rio de Janeiro,
thousands of mostly young and educated Bulgarians have demonstrated over
the past 40 days in Sofia, the country’s capital, demanding better
democracy and new elections in what had been largely peaceful rallies.
But Marina Karakonova, a protester and freelance journalist, said the
protesters had lost patience. “The gentleman’s agreement between
protesters and police is broken,” she said. “There is no trust.”
Demonstrators threw bottles and stones at a bus that the police were
using to evacuate the officials early Wednesday, witnesses said.
Protesters then used garbage cans to build barricades.
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