Overview
- On Dec. 2 the government formally asked parliament to pull the first euro-denominated 2026 draft and pledged to restart the budget process.
- Demonstrations drew tens of thousands across the country, with organizers estimating about 50,000 in Sofia, and largely peaceful rallies later saw clashes and vandalism.
- Police reported 71 detentions and three injured officers in Sofia and said one detainee carried 31,000 levs in cash suspected of funding provocateurs.
- President Rumen Radev called for the government to resign and hold early elections, while opposition leaders threatened a no-confidence motion.
- Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov outlined revisions, including an investment review, did not rule out rolling over the current budget into 2026, and faces scrutiny from unions, business groups and institutions warning about inflation and fiscal limits ahead of euro adoption on January 1, 2026.