Bulgaria's Garmen Braces for Protest over Illegal Buildings

Politics » DOMESTIC | June 2, 2015, Tuesday // 09:31
Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Garmen Braces for Protest over Illegal Buildings Photos by BGNES

Residents of Garmen, a village in southwestern Bulgaria, are set to stage a demonstration on Tuesday to vent their anger at what they call a state of lawlessness in the Roma neighborhood.

Security has been stepped up, and additional police forces have been deployed to prevent any major escalation.

Last week, following days of tensions over illegal buildings in the Kremikovtski neighborhood and criminal offenses reportedly committed on behalf of Roma minority representatives, the local Bulgarian population set a week-long ultimatum for local officials to demolish the buildings.

Locals of ethnic <b>Bulgarian</b> origin are using 19th century songs to show unity against what they call "lawlessness" and "infringement" on behalf of the <b>Roma</b> population

A rally is scheduled for 12:00 EEST (local time, or 10:00 GMT). Its final destination is the site where ethnic clashes occurred at the end of May.

Organizers have vowed that the demonstration will be entirely peaceful.

On Monday Garmen municipality announced that the Roma residents of illegal buildings will be able to purchase the land where their homes were built and then to make the dwellings comply with the law.

A number of Roma community members are now saying they have enough money to buy the land, while others maintain they have demolished their own buildings to show they want to put an end to tensions.

Local suggest that authorities tend to tolerate offenses by Roma representatives to the detriment of ethnic Bulgarians, something that the minority disputes.

Tensions soared in May when a dispute over music played "too loudly" in the Kremikovtsi neighborhood ended in a brawl. Three people were injured in the fight that followed suit.
 

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Tags: Garmen, Bulgarian, Roma, Kremikovtsi

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