Ruse marks anniversary of Bulgaria's first environmental protest

On September 28, 1987, six women from Ruse, Bulgaria, led the country’s first spontaneous environmental protest. The demonstration was a response to years of toxic chlorine emissions from a chemical plant in Giurgiu, Romania, which operated significantly over its intended capacity.

The movement was triggered by a specific incident on September 23, 1987, during a pioneer ceremony in Ruse. A thick cloud of chlorine gas drifted across the Danube, causing children to faint and forcing some to use their red pioneer scarves as makeshift gas masks. The failure of communist authorities to address the immediate danger led the mothers—Tsonka Bukurova, Vyara Georgieva, Dora Bobeva, Stefka Monova, Evgenia Zheleva, and Albena Velkova—to organize a peaceful march.

This protest marked the beginning of mass civil resistance against the totalitarian regime and led to the formation of the Public Committee for Environmental Protection of Ruse. The pollution had caused a surge in respiratory illnesses and forced many families to relocate from the region.