Hundreds of citizens and artists gathered in a protest on Thursday in front of the building of the Culture Ministry to demand the resignation of the Bulgarian Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov.

The protest erupted after Rashidov made controversial statements regarding Georgi Petrov, one of the tenors, who used to be member of the chamber ensemble Yoan Kukuzel The Angel-Voiced until recently.

In an event, which accompanied the unveiling of the exhibition of Thracian treasures in the Louvre last week, the choir performed in Notre-Dame Cathedral.

It emerged that the members of the choir did not receive any honoraria for their performance, which was protested by Petrov, who was subsequently dismissed from the ensemble.

Rashidov offered to pay BGN 100 to the tenor in order for Petrov to calm down and refrain from singing, the minister proposing to give half of the sum from his own pocket.

In response to these comments, some of the protesters collected coins and called for the minister to step down, while others handed out fake BGN 100 banknotes bearing the image of Rashidov.

Although the minister apologised to Petrov in an open letter earlier on Thursday, this did not prevent hundreds of people, including members of the choir and Petrov himself, to gather and demand his resignation.

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