Supporters plan to occupy parliament as political tensions sharpen around the case of Blagomir Kotsev, detained without conviction. Public anger over the nearly five-month detention of Varna mayor Blagomir Kotsev is intensifying, triggering demonstrations in several Bulgarian cities last evening, with the largest taking place in the capital Sofia. Kotsev, who has been held since July without conviction, faces corruption charges that his party, the opposition We Continue the Change (PP), describes as a politically driven prosecution.
The case has become a focal point for broader concerns about judicial abuse, political pressure and the influence of sanctioned for corruption by the U.S. and Great Britain power broker Delyan Peevski, whose party DPS supports the government. The operation against Kotsev was conducted by the national anti-corruption commission, which PP accuses of acting as a political “weapon” for the current authorities.
Successive court sittings have refused to grant Kotsev a lighter pre-trial measure. His latest request, filed to the prosecution on 7 November, was not submitted to the court at all: instead, prosecutors filed an indictment. The Supreme Court has since ruled that the trial must take place in Varna rather than Sofia, as previously announced, when the prosecution had linked the case to “an unwnown MP”. The change of venue means he is expected to be transferred to a detention facility in Varna.
The procedural delays have fuelled public frustration. Kotsev’s lawyer, Ina Lulcheva, criticised prosecutors for “abuse of power,” noting the contradiction in the official argument: “It is schizophrenic – he is described both as an unknown person and as a person with immunity. There is no such thing as an unknown MP.” Calls to “occupy parliament”
Thursday’s mass protest in Sofia took a more confrontational turn after PP co-leader Assen Vassilev urged supporters to prepare for civil disobedience: “Let’s occupy parliament next Tuesday, when the budget is being adopted, and not allow the pigs to pass it. Because after that, it will be very hard to turn things back.”
Earlier that day, activists placed a large pink piggy-bank installation in front of parliament, symbolising what the party calls the government’s ongoing “theft from the budget” to the profit of Peevski.
Another member of We Continue the Change – Nikola Barbutov – is also currently in detention on corruption charges. He was deputy mayor of Sofia but resigned immediately after his arrest in the summer. The protest also called for his release. A few days ago, the prosecution filed an indictment against him as well.
The protests come against the backdrop of growing international scrutiny. Renew Europe, which represents PP in the European Parliament, has repeatedly defined Kotsev as a “political prisoner” and used the case to highlight what it sees as the collapse of the rule of law in Bulgaria. The group launched a plenary debate in Strasbourg in October, although other Bulgarian political forces, including GERB and the Socialists, mobilised their European party families to block criticism. Renew Europe leaders have described the case as “an attack on democratic institutions.” Witnesses, they warn, have reported coercion to falsify testimony in order to incriminate the mayor. Group chair Valérie Hayer argued that Bulgaria is “captured by oligarchs,” pointing to Peevski’s sanctioned status under the U.S. Magnitsky Act and his growing political leverage. “The EU cannot be strong abroad if it is blind at home,” she said.
Other Renew figures, including former Belgian prime minister Sophie Wilmès, lamented the failure to secure a parliamentary monitoring mission. The group will now send its own fact-finding delegation to Sofia and Varna, with results expected in spring 2026.
“Blagomir Kotsev has been in prison since July without being convicted. His case is a clear warning sign for the state of the rule of law in Bulgaria. No one should lose their freedom without a fair and timely judicial process. Kotsev deserves justice! Don’t leave democracy behind bars”, Renew postet on Facebook on Thursday.
As protesters prepare for a possible occupation of parliament during the upcoming budget vote, Bulgaria’s deepening institutional confrontation shows no sign of easing – and Kotsev’s continued detention has become a rallying point for a growing movement demanding accountability, transparency and political restraint.