Sofia set for protests between 14th & 16th January

Several protests are set to take place in Sofia between 14 and 16 January 2009. A national student march is planned on 14 January. The students, along with representatives from other organizations, will march to Narodno Subranie Square, which is located in front of Parliament. Various marches to the square have reportedly been planned, with at least one starting from Hristo Botev Hall in the Studentski Grad borough. The boulevards Kliment Ohridski, Dragan Tsankov, Graf Ignatief, Vassil Levski and Tsar Osvoboditel will be closed to traffic at various points during the protest from 1000 to 1800 local time. Local reports indicate that there is the potential for violence during the protest, as some youth leaders have claimed that riot-starters will be planted in the crowd of peaceful protesters. In addition, soccer hooligans could attempt to incite conflict with police officers. Meanwhile, employees of Kremikovtzi, the country's largest metalworking company, are planning to stage a rally on 15 January that will affect traffic on Vazov and Knyaz Dondoukov boulevards, Oborishte Street and Alexander Nevski Square beginning at 0800 local time. In addition, steelworkers' marches are expected disrupt traffic on GS Rakovski and Slavyanska streets and Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard.