Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

No arrests have been made following last night's violent protest in front of the National Theater

Photo: BTA

No arrests have been made for last night's riots in front of the Ivan Vazov National Theater in Sofia during a protest against the new prodution "Guns and the Man", directed by John Malkovich. This was announced to BNT by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Atanas Ilkov. 

At a briefing, he described the response of the police as quick, adequate and immediate. 60 riot police officers were sent to the scene, although the Sofia Directorate for Internal Affairs had no information about provocations involving football hooligans. 


Today, the prosecutor's office assigned the Sofia Directorate for Internal Affairs to identify the violators of the order, and they have already been identified. When asked why there were no arrests after protesters attacked theater director Vasil Vasilev, animator Teodor Ushev and actor Vladimir Penev, the police explained that in such a situation the goal is first to "tame the tension" and then proceed to arrest.

According to the Sofia Directorate for Internal Affairs, there was no way to make a cordon last night so that the spectators with tickets could enter the theater, as there were provocateurs among them. "I thank my colleagues for doing a great job, for not allowing the escalation of tension, for not taking actions to detain persons in the situation in which the tension was escalating, because then you would have asked questions: "How exactly did you allow the center of Sofia to bleed in front of the National Theater?", said the director of the Metropolitan Directorate of Internal Affairs, Lyubomir Nikolov.

A protest and a counter-protest are planned for this evening in front of the National Theater.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Nesebar on the Black Sea coast covered in snow

During the weekend temperatures will vary widely above and below zero

On Saturday the weather will continue cold, predominantly sunny with a temporary increase of mid and high clouds. There will be fog before midday in some parts in the lowlands. There will be a light wind from the East, in the Eastern part of..

published on 2/21/25 7:35 PM
Rumen Radev

Survey: President Rumen Radev with highest approval rating

Out of all politicians in this country, President Rumen Radev enjoys the highest approval rating – 46.7% , followed by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov (18.9%), GERB party leader Boyko Borissov (15.9%), National Assembly Speaker Nataliya Kiselova..

published on 2/21/25 4:44 PM

74% of young doctors choose to remain in Bulgaria

For the third year running, the number of young doctors who want to remain in Bulgaria after graduation has been going up, indicate the results of a survey conducted among 224 Bulgarian students who graduated the Sofia Medical University’s medical..

published on 2/21/25 2:47 PM