Around 1,000 Bulgarian police officers held a silent protest outside the Interior Ministry on Saturday to demand better pay and working conditions in the European Union's poorest state. The police officers, banned by law from striking, handed a list of demands to the deputy interior minister.
Their protest comes amid rising public anger over corruption and slow reforms as the global economic downturn and Russian gas supply cut bite. "We are here, because of the extremely bad working conditions. Officers have to bring their own paper in order to work," Ivan Pavlov, a policeman from the town of Lovech said.