Bulgarian students protest against subsidies cuts

Hundreds of students and professors protested Tuesday in front of Sofia University against a reduction in state education subsidies, bulgarian media reported.

The protest, in front of the country's oldest university, was staged under the motto "Today's policies kill tomorrow's education." "We are here to show that we care about Bulgaria's higher education," one of the protesters was quoted by local media as saying.

Students and professors warned that Bulgaria's education would "die if there were further cuts in funding" and have asked the government to make education a priority.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said that the country had to do some "belt tightening" and that everyone was facing a crisis. "This year will be very difficult for everyone, but we will survive and the next year everything will be back to normal," Borisov told reporters in Sofia. "Europe is in a crisis, people everywhere are reducing salaries and pensions."

The government in Sofia decided last week to cut all government spending by 20 per cent in order to reduce the budget deficit.