/ world today news/ A protest against the Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TTFTA) between the EU and the USA was held in the capital, regardless of the bad weather, citizens came out to say “No” to the secrecy surrounding the agreement.
During the peaceful march from “Patriarch Evtimii” Blvd. to the representation of the European Commission in Sofia, the protesters chanted “TPTI is a dictate, stop it today or you’re dead”, guarded by the law enforcement agencies.
Vanya Grigorova, chairman of the “Solidary Bulgaria” Association, advisor in the “Support” KT and one of the co-organizers of the protest, stated that the main demand is more transparency in the conduct of the TPTI negotiations.
“Furthermore, we want the ISDS clause, which is for suing investor countries, to be dropped. The purpose of such agreements should be the welfare of the common man, not the protection of corporate profits. Unfortunately, over the past two decades, free trade agreements are exactly like that, even though they weren’t by design,” she said. Bulgaria gathered the most signatures against the TPTI. “In the beginning, it was a bit slow, but one party joined the 8th month and thanks to her we managed to collect the signatures that were needed very quickly. Since I am the coordinator for the collection of the signature for Bulgaria, and after October 6th, when the deadline was, we will continue to collect signatures, as the negotiations continue” , she clarified and added that the signature will now be in the form of a free civil signature.
“Bulgarian society is increasingly aware of what is happening, there are positions of trade unions, civil organizations, parties, even employers’ organizations against this agreement. The only voice that is still not heard is that of the government. Bulgaria does not have a clearly expressed position at the government level”, commented Vanya Grigorova.
She is convinced that the greatest harm from TPTI for Bulgaria is the threat to our labor and social standards, as well as food safety. “There is still no clear opinion on what policy the EU will pursue, whether it will level the standards to the lowest or level them to the highest. Whether in some cases it will reduce the European ones, or in others it will raise the American ones, which is the main question”, added Vanya Grigorova.
“I am protesting because the conditions presented in TPTI are monstrous. It’s monstrous to sign something you don’t even know what it is. There are no such contracts, it’s something absurd. Now, suddenly, in the 21st century, such a secrecy is proposed, which for me means something bad for the weaker countries”, said Dolores Abadjieva, who also came to express her civil position.
Among the slogans of the protesters were those that read: “Out of the colonizers from Bulgaria”, “No to monetary slavery”, “People against the power of the corporations”, as well as “Bulgarian land is not a commodity. She is the Motherland. The homeland is not for sale”.
#Protesters #TPTI #dictate #stop #today #die
