Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said he was ‘proud’ of the demonstrators that have been lining the streets of Sofia during more than a week of anti-government rallies.

Plevneliev said: “Bulgaria can be proud of this good-natured, democratic protest, which delivers a message to the politicians.”

Thousands of Bulgarians have calling for more transparency and less corruption from their government during eight days of mainly peaceful demonstrations.

Bulgaria’s Socialist-led coalition, headed by Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, has been in power for three weeks.

One demonstrator said: “I’m here to protest against what’s happening in Bulgaria. The governments and parties may change – but the one mafia behind all of them never changes.”

Another activist said the country is on the brink, warning: “Bulgaria’s in a revolutionary situation now and those in power should consider this well. If they don’t change, the country could go up in flames.”

The unrest was sparked by the government’s appointment of powerful media figure, Delyan Peevski, as the country’s national security chief. The decision was later reversed, but the u-turn did little to quell public anger