One in five Bulgarians live in poverty earning less than the equivalent of 120 euros per month. One in three young Bulgarians can not find work while private companies have accumulated alarmingly high debts preventing growth.
Electricity bills have soared. There have been street protests across the country demonstrating against low incomes and corruption forcing the government to resign. In the last three months six people have died after setting themselves on fire in public.
Elections will be held next month. Can the new government bring hope back to the people? The country is financially stable but the bill is paid by the poorest of the poor, in a currency called hardship and daily suffering.
Reporter meets a family who have lost their father after he set himself on fire in front of the mayor of his local town. The programme hears of the plight of two mothers who do not have enough money to pay their electricity bills.
Euronews reporter Hans von der Brelie interviewed social anthropologist Haralan Aleksandrov, professor at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia. The interview includes questions on the ongoing social and political crisis in the country, the mass demonstrations of early 2013 and the series of self immolations that have shocked the country. Click on the link below to hear the interview which is in English.