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Bulgarians protest against corruption, Roma

Sat, 1 Oct 2011 14:34 GMT

Source: reuters // Reuters

* Some 2,000 take part in peaceful rally in Sofia

* Week of anti-Roma protests rocks EU's poorest member

* More rallies planned over weekend

By Tsvetelia Tsolova

SOFIA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Some 2,000 Bulgarians rallied in central Sofia against minority Roma gypsies on Saturday, demanding an end to "impunity" for organised crime in the European Union's poorest country.

Bulgaria has been rocked by three nights of violent street protests after a 19-year old ethnic Bulgarian was run over and killed by a man linked to Roma clan leader Kiril Rashkov in the southern town of Katunitsa.

Singing the national anthem and carrying the national flag, young supporters of the nationalist Bulgarian National Union protested at "fake tolerance" towards Roma and demanded swift government action to impose the strict rule of law.

"We are marching against all parasite communities, against the mafia," said a 22-year-old who gave his name only as Filip, voicing anger that his taxes go to support Roma gypsies who make up about 5 percent of Bulgaria's 7.4 million people.

"We stand against this government and the political elite, against the impunity and the corruption," said Ivan, 27, another protester who refused to give his family name.

Bulgaria's president has convened the national security council to discuss the recent anti-Roma outbreaks - the worst violence in the Balkan country for 14 years.

The protests are a blow to the centre-right government of Boiko Borisov, whose popularity had already dipped after the EU refused to let Bulgaria join its passport-free Schengen area over corruption concerns, before Oct. 23 presidential elections.

Borisov, who came to power two years ago on pledges to root out crime and corruption, said the protests are politically motivated and will stop after the October poll.

"The tension will ease immediately after the election, because it is purely political," Borisov was quoted as saying by online news agency Focus.

"What do they protest against? That we are building highways, kindergartens, that we build Bulgaria?" he asked. "What else should we do?"

Young Bulgarians are organising more protests later on Saturday through social internet networks, and soccer fans plan another rally in the central city of Plovdiv on Sunday.

In counter-action organised by the Bulgarian Centre of Inter-Ethnic Dialogue and Tolerance, volunteers handed out carnations to citizens in several Bulgarian towns to mark the European Day of Roma Pride.

"Our aim is to show that the reasonable part of the society can live together," the centre's chairman, Dean Kolev, told state news agency BTA. (Editing by Alistair Lyon)