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Hundreds of Bulgarian ember miners and vigor workers signifier a protestation successful Sofia, Bulgaria, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, to request authorities guarantees for their jobs amid bids by the European Union to adjacent mines and trim c emissions. The fiscal load of reducing c emissions poses a immense situation to Bulgaria, which has 1 of the lowest GDP per capita rates successful the EU. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

SOFIA – Hundreds of Bulgarian ember miners and vigor workers staged a protestation connected Wednesday to request authorities guarantees for their jobs amid bids by the European Union to adjacent mines and trim c emissions.

Buses carried protesters from crossed Bulgaria for the rally successful downtown Sofia, wherever demonstrators chanted “We privation jobs!” arsenic they marched to the authorities headquarters.

Bulgarian miners accidental the EU’s clip framework for closing ember mining and ember extraction is excessively abbreviated and reason it shouldn't travel astatine the disbursal of the bloc’s poorest and astir carbon-dependent regions.

The organizers of the protestation — the country's 2 largest commercialized unions — said they were defending Bulgaria's vigor independency and warned that tens of thousands of jobs are astatine hazard should the biggest ember mines and vigor plants successful southeastern Bulgaria close.

The protesters submitted to the authorities a petition with 110,000 signatures demanding to widen the operational beingness of the coal-fired powerfulness plants. They besides warned that a imaginable vigor situation this wintertime successful the EU could pb to a societal situation due to the fact that of the precocious c prices successful the EU.

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Nearly fractional of the energy successful the Balkan state of 7 cardinal is produced by ember powerfulness plants, portion different 35% comes from atomic energy. The remainder is covered by hydroelectric, star and upwind generation.

The fiscal load of reducing c emissions poses a immense situation to Bulgaria, which has 1 of the lowest gross home merchandise per capita rates successful the EU.

Bulgaria volition clasp an aboriginal wide predetermination connected Nov. 14. There is nary operational parliament astatine the moment, and the caretaker authorities has constricted powers.

After gathering with caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev, national leaders said the authorities had agreed that the closure day for the ember powerfulness plants should beryllium aft 2040.

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