4,000 Bulgarians Shout for Glasnost and Democracy
More than 4,000 Bulgarians, many shouting, “Democracy!” and “ Glasnost !,” demonstrated outside government headquarters today in the latest signs of upheaval in Eastern Europe.
The crowd joined a short march organized by the unofficial ecology group Eco-glasnost to hand a petition on environmental problems to government officials.
Uniformed police ringed the square in central Sofia but did not intervene as six Eco-glasnost members delivered the petition, the first of its kind in 45 years.
The crowd dispersed peacefully after 15 minutes.
“It was electrifying, and the biggest sign of hope that seems to be mounting here,” said one Western diplomat in the crowd.
Eco-glasnost spokeswoman Dimitrina Petrova said she had handed the petition with 11,545 signatures to the deputy president of the National Assembly, Angel Dimitrov.
“He said it seemed fine from the procedural point of view and would be considered,” Petrova told Reuters.
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