The National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology announced they were halting their effective protest, which, in their words, had become politicized. However, the weathermen say they are maintaining protest preparedness until the budget of the institute is voted.

Yesterday the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology stopped providing the media with a weather forecast as a form of protest, as announced by the director of the institute Prof. Hristomir Branzov on public service TV BNT.

The National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology announced a protest against the government’s plan to transfer the institute from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Environment and Water. Despite government assurances that the change will not lead to losses for the institute, scientists are worried about their scientific research, which is an essential part of their work. The scientific structure has the right to distribute its own budget and to have scientific autonomy; its director is elected by his colleagues from the academic staff of the organization.

In addition, under the Natural Disaster and Accident Protection Act, the institute has commitments to many institutions, so scientists want to continue working as an independent scientific organization.