[caption id="attachment_549" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Protesters in Sofia the photo is by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)--I didn&#39;t stick around to take photos"]<img class="size-full wp-image-549" title="riots" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/riots.jpg" alt="Protesters in Sofia Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)--I didn't stick around to take photos" width="300" height="240" />[/caption]

Earlier this week, it seemed likely that Bulgaria would have gas by Friday.  But it's been kind of a mixed bag and it's only Wednesday.   This afternoon protesters outside of parliament (which I walk by to get to school) were teargas-ed by the police.  It doesn't seem that they were protesting anything in particular--just protesting.

I guess that originally it was supposed to be a rally but it turned into a protest about nothing in particular--I saw lots of university students walking toward the rally and later I read on the Sofia Echo that there were also different political parties, young people and old people and there and event the farmers were present.

On my way to school this morning I knew that something was up because there were already police directing traffic at Narodno Sabranie Sq. not far from Alexander Nevski but only on my way home from school about 1pm today did I notice how many police officers there were and how much metal fence had been set up around the National Assembly.

I've seen protests at Nevski before--usually farmers but I'd never seen the police wearing full riot gear.  These men were wearing vests, helmets with shields for the face and carrying batons.  I crossed under the walking subway and on the other side of Tsar Osvoboditel I was met by protesters.  I thought that maybe I could take my normal route home but decided against it.<!--more-->

I am not really scared of being in crowds or being hurt but this morning there was a serious ice storm and all of the sidewalks had been covered with a sheet of ice and there are still piles of snow every where--now icy-snow and  the closer I got to my regular route the less and less I liked the atmosphere of the crowd.  So I turned back.  I figured it was smarter to take the longer route home.

On my way home, I passed lots and lots of university age men in dark clothing, with hooded sweatshirts, all heading toward the protest.  The tenor was serious and while I was interested in what was going on, I was glad to be on my way home.  I couldn't help but think about an observation I'd written about recently on my blog--<a href="http://karolinkabulgaria.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/notes-from-sofia/#more-543" target="_blank">the complacency</a> of Bulgarians given the natural gas crisis.

It makes sense--people were bound to get cold and angry at some point.  The article in the Sofia Echo and another report from the Sofia News Agency make it sound like the protests were random--about nothing in particular. According to the <a href="http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/police-drives-off-protesters-outside-parliament-building/id_34014/catid_66" target="_blank">Sofia Echo</a>: the protesters gathered to "express their discontent with Bulgaria's political and social establishment met stiff resistance from police who drove them away an hour and a half after the protest started." And the <a href="http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=100452" target="_blank">Sofia News Agency</a> sums it up this way: the "protest rally in downtown Sofia was a civic initiative, which served no one's political interests, and that is why it scared the government."

What strikes me as strange is the fact that none of the articles mention the fact that the country has been without natural gas for more than a week.  This is seems might play a role in the protest.  This might also be the reason that is seems like the rally served no one's political interests.  I can't help but think maybe I was wrong about my complacency comment in my blog earlier this week.

Still, should I believe that there is no link between the protests and the lack of natural gas?  Maybe the lack of gas is not casual but it's clearly a mounting problem.  Even after an agreement was reached between Russia and the Ukraine there is still no natural gas in Bulgaria.

Sure we knew it would take a few days but the natural gas supply to reach us but apparently the gas is flowing from Russia in such small quantities that the Ukraine claims that there's not enough gas to build up the appropriate level of pressure in the pipeline to transport the gas.  Or at least that's what the the article <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/01/14/world/international-us-russia-ukraine-gas.html" target="_blank">"EU Premiers Plead With Ukraine And Russia For Gas"</a> submitted to the NYT by Reutgrs says. I read it and thought: Great.  Then I read this article, also on the NYT, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/world/europe/15gazprom.html" target="_blank">"Gas Crisis in Europe Continues"</a> by David Jolly and thought: Hey, what's really going on here?

Jolly's article states that, "Naftogaz, [Gazprom's] Ukrainian counterpart, had refused Wednesday for a second day to accept natural gas from Russia for transit to Europe, despite the presence of European monitors whose work was meant to have ensured exports were flowing." So what's the deal? None of this helps me answer the question: why don't we have gas? Is it Russia who's not sending enough of it or is Naftogaz/Ukraine who is refusing the gas?

The thing is, I think that Bulgarians are more used to contradictions like this than I am.  They are skeptical of government and the media--for good reason.  But after a life-time in the states, I am not... yet.

Anyhow, back to the protests.  From what I've read, shortly after I decided to take the long way home the rally turned violent.  Protesters started throwing rocks and snowballs as well as bottles, homemade bombs (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov_cocktail" target="_blank">Molotov cocktails</a>--is my guess) and the metal fences keeping the protesters from parliament. The articles don't say this but I assume given the condition of the snow in the area they were really throwing chunks of dirty brown-ice-snow which is much worse in my mind than snowballs--it hurts to get hit with ice.  And when their actions escalated and the police ended the demonstration with teargas, force and apparently over 150 people arrested.

I just can't help thinking that seems like an awful lot of people to be arrested for protesting nothing of real political substance.  Maybe it's about more than politics.  Maybe it is actually about a civil initiative.