Protest in Varna Calls for Mayor Blagomir Kotsev’s Resignation Amid Illegal Settlement Scandal

A protest demanding the resignation of Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev is taking place outside the municipal building in the city on June 3.

Earlier today, the State Agency for National Security (DANS) and the Cadastre Agency launched an inspection of municipal documents related to the illegal settlement in the Baba Alino area, with particular focus on allegedly fraudulent certificates of toleration, Regional Development Minister Ivan Shishkov announced.

Shishkov described the case as one of “organised blindness”, referring to the alleged failures that allowed the illegal development in the Baba Alino locality to emerge.

According to the minister, experts have seized copies of the certificates of toleration as part of an investigation aimed at determining whether the documents were issued lawfully.

He stressed that responsibility for the situation does not lie with a single political force and noted that there are no valid construction permits for the properties in Baba Alino, only evidence of what he described as a series of serious legal violations.

Meanwhile, as the inspection continues at Varna Municipality, demonstrators have gathered outside the municipal headquarters.

Although organisers have presented the rally as a civic protest, it has been fuelled by growing public dissatisfaction with the way Varna is being governed.

Participants have cited concerns over transparency, accountability, infrastructure, public cleanliness, procurement procedures and what they perceive as administrative inaction on issues important to the city.

Despite being described as a citizens’ initiative, a number of political figures were also visible among those attending the rally.