Bulgarian prime minister resigns after mass protests

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced his resignation on Thursday, December 11, 2025, following weeks of street protests over the government’s economic policies and its alleged failure to tackle corruption.

Zhelyazkov announced the decision in a televised address just minutes before parliament was due to vote on a no-confidence motion.

His resignation comes less than three weeks before Bulgaria is scheduled to join the euro zone on January 1.

“Our coalition met, we discussed the current situation, the challenges we face, and the decisions we must responsibly make,” Zhelyazkov said, confirming the government would step down.

Thousands of Bulgarians protested on Wednesday evening in Sofia and dozens of other towns and cities, the latest in a wave of demonstrations highlighting public anger over endemic graft and successive governments’ inability to root it out.

Bulgarians demand govt’s resignation over inability to tackle corruption

Zhelyazkov added: “We realise that the protest was against arrogance and conceit, this is not a social protest, but a protest for values.

“It was not a meeting of political opponents over policies, but over attitudes, and therefore it unites different components of Bulgarian society.”

Last week, Zhelyazkov’s government withdrew its 2026 budget plan, the first drafted in euros, after protests erupted over proposals to raise social security contributions and taxes on dividends to fund higher state spending.

Despite the retreat, demonstrations have continued in a country that has held seven national elections in the past four years, most recently in October 2024, amid deep political and social divisions.

The Star