Mass protests shaking Bulgaria this month have been widely portrayed online as an anti-EU uprising. In reality, says Dr. Spasimir Domaradzki, they are something very different: a revolt by some of the country’s most pro-European citizens against what they see as state capture at home. Speaking on TVP World’s World Talks, Domaradzki, a senior analyst at the Institute of Central Europe and a political scientist at the University of Warsaw, stressed that the demonstrations were sparked by the 2026 budget—with planned tax and social security increases—but quickly grew into a broader movement. “The budget was one of the elements that brought people out on the streets, but it is no longer about the budget,” he said, pointing to anger over corruption, rule-of-law abuses and the treatment of opposition figures such as the mayor of Varna, who spent months in pre-trial detention. According to Domaradzki, the protesters now demand the resignation of the government and of long-time power broker Boyko Borisov, whom critics accuse of presiding over years of “state capture.” Far from rejecting Brussels, he argued, “the people on the streets are the most fervent supporters of European integration,” while attempts by the pro-Russian party Revival to hijack the marches have been openly rebuffed. The unrest has spread well beyond Sofia, with demonstrations reported in some 25 cities. For Domaradzki, that national reach underlines how “simply unacceptable” many Bulgarians find the way politics has been conducted since Borisov’s return to influence. Asked what this means for the EU, he cautioned against expecting Brussels to solve Bulgaria’s crisis. The more immediate test, he said, lies with the European People’s Party, the center-right bloc to which Borisov’s party belongs. It must decide, in his words, whether it wants to be associated with “people with authoritarian sentiments or with genuine democratic process.” In the meantime, Russian-linked online networks have tried to frame the protests as a popular rebellion against the EU. According to Domaradzki, that disinformation campaign is precisely why it is crucial to portray the protests not a Bulgarian “Brexit moment” but another chapter in a long struggle over who controls the state.
