Yesterday Hundreds of Roma People Demanded the Resignation of Deputy PM with a Protest in Sofia

More than 200 people of Roma origin went on Monday to protest at the Council of Ministers with the request for the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Krassimir Karakachanov. Their discontent was provoked by the demolition of the Roma neighborhood in the village of Voyvodinovo in Plovdiv and Karakachanov's comment that "the Gypsies have become extremely insolent". Protesters blame the deputy prime minister of "ethnic hatred"

The new outburst of pre-election ethnic tensions began with the beating by two Roma brothers to a soldier in the center of Vojvodinovo. Karakachanov's reaction was immediate. He visited the village and made his comment on "the extremely insolent Gypsies," and then provoked the demolition of the Roma neighborhood.

The Roma protested in Sofia with "Karakachanov, Go Away", "The Voivods do not break down houses" and "Bulgaria says No to Nazism." The protesters want Karakachanov's resignation because it deepens the problem of the lack of rights of the Roma minority.

Some of the protesters also asked the media. One of them was, "How was the electricity paid in the Roma neighborhood in Vojvodinovo, since the buildings there were illegal?" The other question was: What kind of business does Karakachanov have in Vojvodinovo and why a deputy prime minister raises ethnic tensions?

"Dear brothers and sisters, let us show that we are Bulgarian citizens, that we are part of Bulgaria and we are not refugees, we are not foreigners and they have to treat us properly. NO to separation, insults and racism, but of understanding, "says a participant in the protest.

The leaders of the Roma demonstration add that more than 1000 people have already signed in their electronic petition, demanding the resignation of Karakachanov. Earlier on Monday, Karakachanov commented on the demonstration saying "everyone has the right to protest".

"All these organizations, which have been using huge amounts of money for years for Roma integration, have a good time to give a report how much money they have received and what they have spent."

"Why is it so that after these hundreds of millions, not to say billions, which were poured out by European, world and national funds, why they have no effect on this, they are responsible for this because they were receiving that money," he said Karakachanov.

Responsible for the integration of Roma in the current Borisov Cabinet was the co-chair of the United Patriots Valery Simeonov. After Simeonov's resignation, Mariana Nikolova was elected by the nationalist coalition, which includes Krassimir Karakachanov.