Ecoglasnost ( bg, Екогласност), also known as ''Independent Society of Ecoglasnost'' ( bg, Независимо сдружение Екогласност), is an independent

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

organization, established on 11 April 1989 and formally registered on 11 December 1989. Ecoglasnost became a founding member of the umbrella opposition movement Union of Democratic Forces on 7 December 1989, and gave rise to the

Green Party of Bulgaria The Green Party of Bulgaria ( bg, Зелена партия, Zelena partiya) is an environmentalist political party in Bulgaria. It was founded in Sofia in 1989 by Aleksandar Karakachanov, who later went on to become the chairperson of the part ...

on 28 December 1989, the Political Club of Ecoglasnost in March 1990, and the National Movement of Ecoglasnost on 15 June 1991.Lilyana Aleksandrieva and Aleksandar Karakachanov
''Independent Society Ecoglasnost, 1989''.
Sofia: Ciela Soft and Publishing Plc., 2009. 250 pp. (in Bulgarian) Focusing its activities on several major environmental,

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

and political issues, the organization rapidly gained public support to become the leading opposition to the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

: In particular, Ecoglasnost organized public

petitions A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offic ...

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

and

demonstrations Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...

against the controversial projects of diverting Struma and Mesta Rivers waters to the north, and building the

Belene Nuclear Power Plant The Belene Nuclear Power Plant ( bg, Атомна електроцентрала „Белене“) is a planned nuclear power plant 3 km from Belene and 11 km from Svishtov in Pleven Province, northern Bulgaria, near the Danube River. ...

. Position papers and reports on these issues and on the preservation of Bulgarian nature heritage were disseminated as

samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...

, made available to domestic and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

, and submitted to national authorities as well as to the 35-nation

CSCE CSCE may refer to * China State Construction Engineering * Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange which merged to form the New York Board of Trade * Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe * Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe whic ...

Meeting on the Protection of the Environment held in Sofia from 16 October to 3 November 1989.Bulgaria 1989: from environmental protests to the Turkish exodus and Central Committee putsch.
Wien International. Ecoglasnost played an important role in the political process that lead to the

regime change Regime change is the partly forcible or coercive replacement of one government regime with another. Regime change may replace all or part of the state's most critical leadership system, administrative apparatus, or bureaucracy. Regime change may ...

marked by the downfall of the longtime communist ruler

Todor Zhivkov Todor Hristov Zhivkov ( bg, Тодор Христов Живков ; 7 September 1911 – 5 August 1998) was a Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the ''de facto'' leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from 1954 until 1989 ...

on 10 November 1989, paving the way to the restoration of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

and market economy in Bulgaria:

Notes

{{Reflist 1989 establishments in Bulgaria Nature conservation organisations based in Europe Environmental organizations based in Bulgaria Organizations established in 1989 Politics of Bulgaria