Protests in Varna and Ruse: Demands for Fair Elections, Machine Voting, and Saraphov's Resignation

19.12.2025 | Domestic policy

People in Varna and Ruse took to the streets to protest, demanding fair elections, machine voting, and reforms in the judiciary. The protesters insisted on the removal of acting Prosecutor General Borislav Saraphov and chanted against corruption.

Снимка от Иван, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Varna residents, organized by PP-DB, took to a protest march this evening. People chanted that they want fair elections and mandatory machine voting, not paper ballots. The march passed through the central boulevards and stopped at Independence Square in Varna. Shouts of "Mafia out!" were heard.

A protest "for reducing the influence of Boyko Borisov and Delyan Peevski on institutions", with demands for the introduction of entirely machine voting in the elections and reforms in the judiciary, also took place this evening in Ruse. The dissatisfied gathered in front of the Courthouse in the city. The initiative was announced on social media. The protesters insisted on the replacement of the acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov.

They held posters with inscriptions "Justice is in a coma", "Let's stop the looting of the state", "Resistance against dictatorship". Those dissatisfied with the government also chanted "Mafia out!" and "Mafia out!".

"I want Sarafov to disappear immediately from his office, because he is an illegal prosecutor. I want fair elections, let's all vote with machines, as it should be. And enough with this corruption and these thefts in this country. We want to be equal to the other European peoples," said a protester.