Bulgarians gathered in downtown Sofia for another anti-government protest Thursday after a demonstration the night before led to violence, injuries, and arrests.
Several thousand people faced off against riot police in front of the parliament building while demanding the resignations of Bulgaria's prime minister and the chief prosecutor late Wednesday, A small group began hurling small explosives and firecrackers at officers.
Police put a water cannon on the square between parliament, and the offices of the government and the president and cordoned off the area. Violent clashes erupted.
Sofia Police Chief Georgi Hadjiiski told reporters on Thursday that 80 police officers were injured and 126 people were detained, including 62 with criminal records as football hooligans.
He said "a threshold of tolerance has been crossed" by demonstrators, who have held regular anti-government rallies for nearly two months. After Wednesday's clashes, police removed tent camps erected by protesters blocked two key crossroads in the Bulgarian capital, the police chief said.
The Union of Bulgarian Journalists issued a statement condemning "violence against journalists" during the police response.
Earlier on Wednesday, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said that the resignation of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and his Cabinet was the only way out of the political turmoil.
But senior officials from Borissov´s ruling center-right party said Thursday that after the violent events they will stop all debates about a possible resignation.
"If we do so, it would mean that any upcoming government could be toppled by representatives of the criminal underworld," the party said in a statement.
