Hundreds of state-employed Bulgarian scientists have marched to protest proposed budget cuts, and are threatening to shut down their institutes.
Shouting "Bulgaria needs educated people," protesters marched to the government headquarters Wednesday and called for the ministers of finance and education to resign.
Academy of Sciences chairman Nikola Sabotinov said the government should allocate an additional 110 million leva ((EURO)55 million; $77 million) for science and immediately pay overdue salaries.
There was no immediate reaction from the government, which has come under pressure from different groups over its austerity measures aimed at reducing the country's budget deficit next year.