On Saturday, January 14, Bulgarians will go on nationwide protests in various cities throughout the country. In addition, it is confirmed that protests will be supported by Bulgarian expatriates in many other major European cities, among which: London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Athens, Paris, Madrid and others.

Bulgarian citizens insist on immediate moratorium on the use of hydraulic technology breaking / splitting, hydrofracking, fracking or any other name that describes the technology - exploration and / or extraction of shale gas in the Republic of Bulgaria, which includes the injection of chemical compounds under high underground pressure to dismantle shales, releasing gas and extract it to the surface. Bulgarian scientists warn that a ban of this technology is urgently needed, because of risk of poisoning huge water bodies located in Northeastern Bulgaria and parts of Southeastern Romania, which relies on water across Dobrudja, Ludogorie and Northern Black Sea and the Romanian territory. Because of the specific geographic characteristics, the presence of vast quantities of groundwater in densely populated areas, environmentally protected areas, as well as the agriculture and tourism industry - hydraulic frackturing will be devastating. Not least, human health and life are being threatened, because of concerns about the air quality, radioactive contamination and earthquakes that usually follow this technology.

The most recent case is in the State of Ohio, USA, where lawmakers have put a temporary ban on fracking after experts say it is certain that recent fracking in the Buckeye State caused an outbreak of earthquakes: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/is-fracking-causing-earthquakes-in-ohio/2012/01/04/gIQA1NuVbP_video.html

The technology has been banned or suspended in many other US states and European countries. Despite that, the current Bulgarian government continues to issue exploration licenses to various shale gas companies, ignoring the will of its own citizens. Protests have been held frequently every now and then since the summer 2011, when the public first became aware of the issue. Another problem is that the national media does not report much on the situation, which many believe it questions its independency.