Insults and Threats of Fistfights in Parliament: The Foreign Agents Law at the Centre of Controversy

During the discussion of the law on the registration of foreign agents, proposed by "Vazrazhdane," tensions escalated in Parliamnet, leading to scandals. The We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria group was outraged over the process of selecting regulators.

It was a heated plenary session, with insults, threats, and even two attempts at physical altercations between MPs. The focus was on the controversial law for the registration of foreign agents. The sponsors from "Vazrazhdane" justified their request for the bill by arguing that it would shed light on the unregulated financial flows, primarily from the United States, to non-governmental organizations and media in Bulgaria. These entities, they claimed, shape public opinion and thus undermine democracy.

On the other side, WCC-DB argued that the proposed law was pro-Russian and would destroy democracy, as well as the non-governmental and civil sectors. The situation escalated into physical confrontations – first, a group from "Vazrazhdane" attempted to confront Manol Peykov while Kostadin Kostadinov was speaking from the podium.

Later, Kostadinov himself got into a sharp conflict with Ivaylo Mirchev from WCC-DB. Mirchev was provoked by Kostadinov's statement that WCC-DB is a tumor and that "Vazrazhdane" would cut it out.

"We have a list of the funds given abroad over the past four years. This is just the money from the United States; it doesn't even include the funds from 'America for Bulgaria.' For Bulgaria, the total is 431 million dollars. The big question we need to ask here is whether we want to expose all this massive financing or not. Do we want to know if these are real Bulgarian media, or are they promoting, executing, or defending foreign interests and foreign policies? It is absolutely necessary and urgent that we pass a law for the registration of foreign agents, because otherwise, there will be people who continue to tell us they are defending the civil society or civil interests, but in reality, they are defending the interests of foreign countries," Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said.

Kiril Petkov from WCC-DB responded:
"Enough with the lies. This is absurd. What millions are you talking about, what 800 million? There is no such money. You are making up nonsense. We’ve been listening to you all day. This week, we are adopting the rules for regulators. And now you’re distracting the public’s attention with these ridiculous laws. Who will be the next Chief Prosecutor? Who will run the EWRC? Who will run the CPC? These are the real issues. If you want us to be like Georgia – we will not be like Georgia."

The National Assembly rejected the bill submitted by "Vazrazhdane", with only Kostadin Kostadinov's party voting in favour.

Photos by BTA