The unrest was unlocked by the government’s budget for 2026 which proposed higher taxes on the private sector to fund pay rises for the public sector, a shortcut, critics said, to greater government control over the public administration, military and police.

Despite promises of revisions, the protest wave – led by the pro-EU opposition duo We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria – was not calmed, expressing deep dissatisfaction with Bulgaria’s power structures and a desire for all-around change on the political scene.