Gen Z protests on Saturday: Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry warns citizens in Germany
Ahead of youth protests announced for Oct. 31, Sofia is advising Bulgarians in Germany to avoid demonstration sites. In Berlin alone, around 1,500 police officers will be deployed.
Symbolic image · Photo: Achim Raschka (talk); corrected from Ralf Roletschek with ShiftN / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry has urged Bulgarians in Germany to exercise caution ahead of youth protests announced for Saturday, Oct. 31. The Bulgarian Embassy in Berlin on Thursday published a notice to Bulgarian citizens regarding the planned protest rallies. According to Bulgarian media citing the BTA news agency, the recommendation is to avoid demonstration areas, follow instructions from local authorities and plan alternative routes.
The initiative "Gen Z regelt" ("Gen Z handles it") has announced rallies in around 30 German cities. Among other things, it is calling for more money for schools, psychotherapy and climate protection and opposes military conscription. In Berlin, a rally at the Brandenburg Gate is registered for 2 p.m., with 10,000 participants expected. Berlin police are deploying around 1,500 officers, supported by the federal police.
The caution stems from violent student protests in France involving arson and looting; according to the Bulgarian reports, similar youth protests have taken place in Spain, Italy and Albania. Germany's federal Interior Ministry has so far seen no concrete calls for violence but notes that parts of the left-wing extremist scene are involved in the mobilization. Berlin police say they have no concrete indications of planned looting.