Where is the fine line between the right to give vent to your indignation and the kind of anti-social behavior that could land you in jail? We have seen people around the world stand up for their rights with more aggressive methods, and they have achieved their goals. When here, in Bulgaria public indignation was being expressed peacefully, with no shop windows smashed and no cars set on fire, but with blocked intersections, protesters were immediately branded as being “paid”. But in the streets and in the squares there are thousands of young people with strong convictions, prominent public figures, men and women of art and culture. The protests seem to have drawn a dividing line in society, and on either side of the barricade we have seen politicians and protesters, but also musicians, writers, poets, actors.

“If I get booed on stage or during the screening of a film I am in, I would give some serious thought to what I should do,” commented actor Pavel Poppandov for the BNR. “Because I would be dragging down the whole show, the whole film and that would affect my coworkers. If I get booed a second time, or God forbid, a third time, that would mean that I have to change profession. That I should not appear on stage or on the screen. Regrettably, that is not happening in this country.”

But should artists make a statement of their civic engagement?

“Certainly they should, otherwise they would not be citizens, they would be nobody.”

The escalation of tension during the protest dubbed “Grand National Uprising” on 2 September, and the police brutality that followed divided opinion even further:

“I cannot have a very precise view of these events because I do not live in Bulgaria,” said opera prima Raina Kabaivanska in an interview for the BNR. What I saw on TV, however upset me because I saw an organized crowd of hooligans who wanted to see the policemen dead. That was a big shock for me. The police are government officials, they are not enemies. I do not know which side is in the right but it touched me very much – this hatred of people who are our brothers. Why so much hate?! And another thing I do not understand – if you are president, shouldn’t you be above party affiliation? In any constitution that is the foundation for any president. But here I saw a president who has taken a side. That is what shocked me when I was watching Bulgarian TV.”

Poetess Margarita Petkova has her own explanation of what is happening in Bulgaria. She says the limit has been reached and there is no room for dialogue between the two sides:

“People are protesting because they have had enough, not because they want to show what great singers or actors they are. A lot of people I know are at the protests every night but they are not shouting about it from the rooftops. We are all part of the nation, it doesn’t matter who you are. If people feel the need they support the protest. If they do not, they say the protesters are hoodlums, people who do not know what’s what. There have been statements by many people of unquestionable talent, who presume to insult part of the Bulgarian people. I cannot tolerate such things, that is why I am very frugal in what I say. All people act according to their conscience, their moral compass, their integrity, if they have not forgotten the meaning of these words.”

Compiled by Darina Grigorova