Bulgarian students have occupied key universities [1] in their country, bringing academic activities to a resounding halt for the last few weeks. Their revolt is part of larger anti-government protests that have rocked the country since June [2], with demands that the government resign because of widespread poverty and corruption.This Friday on GV Face we talk about the future of Bulgaria's protests with our Bulgaria authors Rayna St [3](@MaliciaRogue [4]), Nevena Borisova and Ruslan Trad (@ruslantrad [5]) along with our Central and Eastern European Editor Danica Radisic (@NikiBGD [6]).The organizers of the latest spontaneous occupation pledged they wouldn't meddle with any political force in the country. Their blockade began when a group of indignant students occupied the largest lecture hall at the the oldest and most prestigious university in capital city Sofia.The desperation of many Bulgarians has been marked by a series of self-immolations since the start of the year. At least nine people have burnt themselves to death [7].
On November 10, thousands of Bulgarians took to the streets to mark the 150th day of anti-government demonstrations, chanting “resign,” “mafia” and “shame on you” as they passed parliament [8].
Hangout participants:
Rayna [3] is a PhD and research fellow at Paris Descartes University, a self-described geek and DIYbio hacker, working to achieve gender equality in science and tech. She's also an Editor for Global Voices Bulgarian and a board member of the French chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation.
Ruslan [9] is a Syrian-Bulgarian blogger. He's the founder of @arabculture and co-founder of Global Voices in Bulgarian.
Nevena [10] has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, from Sofia University, and has studied Sociology as a second university program. She worked as an international News Editor at the Bulgarian Information Agency Focus for two years and as an editor and screenwriter at the Bulgarian National Television for two years. She is currently doing two Master’s degrees in Literature, Cinema and Visual Culture, and in Human Resources Development.
Danica [11] is our Central and Eastern Europe Editor. She's speaks Serbian, English and Portuguese fluently. A Serbian native, she was born and raised on the Iberian Peninsula, with some time spent in the Middle East and US.