Clashes between protesters and police at a protest against Covid-19 green certificate outside Bulgaria’s Parliament

clashes between protesters police protest against covid green certificate outside bulgariarsquos parliament

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от БНТ

16:24, 12.01.2022

The tension of the protest of Vazrazhdane party against the green certificate escalated after 1 p.m. on January 12. Protesters managed to break through the police cordon around the National Assembly and demanded to enter the building. They managed to reach the entrance of the Parliament and started knocking on the door. The National Service of Protection took immediate action to barricade the entrances to the inside of the National Assembly with wooden tables.

The main demand of the protesters was that the Covid-19 green certificate be abolished.

At 15.00, medics headed to the main entrance of the National Assembly and took out a policeman, who probably felt unwell. Protesters periodically try to break through the cordon of police. The police are holding them back for now. The protesters called for men to stand in the front line and for women and children to retreat. They want to meet with MPs, but for the time being no MP has gone out to meet them.

Around 2.30 pm the situation calmed down.

At the central entrance of the National Assembly, the NSP employees started removing the wooden tables. The other two entrances are still barricaded.

Vazrazhdane MPs are demanding that the tables be removed so that citizens can be admitted to Parliament, so that, in their words, they can express the opinion of the people.

"If we continue to impose new restrictions, certificates and discriminatory measures, we will completely ruin our economy, we will become even poorer," Vazrazhdane MP Angel Georgiev told BNT, admitting he had not been vaccinated.

Protesters at the back entrance of Parliament were told they would not be allowed inside for talks. They said they were returning to Parliament ready for more aggressive action.

Initially, the protest was surrounded by a police cordon around the monument, but then a call was heard for all men to come to the fore.

At around 13.15, a call to the protesters to march slowly and calmly to Parliament was heard from a screen mounted next to the monument. The protesters managed to break the cordon and reached the doors of the National Assembly, but were unable to enter because the entrance was barricaded.

"Currently, the Bulgarian people are using their right to protest because the green certificate is illegal," said Vazrazhdane MP Elena Guncheva.

The National Service for Protection barricaded the entrance to the Parliament from the inside with tables and belongings. An MP from Vazrazhdane tried to pull one of the tables with both hands because, according to him, people have to go inside.

The sitting of the National Assembly ended at noon and most of the MPs have already left.

For a short time, the protesters managed to reach the entrance of the Parliament and started knocking on the door.

MPs from "Vazrazhdane" got into verbal clashes with the NGO with a request to remove the barriers and let citizens into the National Assembly building.

There are some people who are in power who do not want to have a dialogue. Nobody has ordered us anything, the Bulgarian people are ordering us, said Angel Georgiev from "Vazrazhdane".

The police detained some of the protesters.

At the protest, some set masks on fire.