Hundreds of angry retirees, who gathered in downtown Sofia for their traditional protest against low pensions, attempted to break into the building of the cabinet of ministers.

SNA reporters say several grey-haired people managed to force their way through the police cordon but officers were quick to cut short their advance. Clashes erupted between police and protesters, but no blood was shed.

Chanting "Mafia", "Resignation" and "Murderers", the protesters vowed to persist in their demands for higher pensions.

A few young people mingled with the crowd, just as instigators would do, SNA reporters suspect.

Police sealed off the streets in the area near the buildings of the presidency and the cabinet of ministers, bringing about hellish traffic jams.

The riots left a few foreign tourists, out on a sightseeing tour in the capital, nothing but stunned, SNA reporters said.

The leader of the ultra-nationalist party Ataka, Volen Siderov, was quick to turn up at the rally and declare his support for the pensioners' demands.

After three hours of rallying, the crowd started to disperse at 1.30 pm.

Bulgarian pensioners have been relentless in their protests for better life. Living on as meagre an average pension as BGN 100 (about EUR 50), Bulgarian pensioners are forced to lead a miserable life, which they say, no one deserves.

Raising the pensions by 10% was simply mockery, the protesters claimed, enraged that even those menial percents would be added as late as July 1.

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