In Bulgaria thousands marched in the capital Sofia and other cities across the country carrying banners denouncing fracking and telling the US energy giant Chevron to "go home". Chevron was granted a permit last June by the Bulgarian government to explore for shale gas in Dobrudzha region in northeastern Bulgaria, which is one of the country's main agricultural regions of Bulgaria. Since then the movement against fracking in Bulgaria has been growing with increasingly larger protests. Hundreds protested against fracking in Sofia in December.

In London around 60 Bulgarians, supported by British anti-fracking campaigners, turned on a chilly winter's evening to show support for the struggle against fracking in Bulgaria, with a candlelit vigil. The practice of hydraulic fracturing, pumping millions of gallons of water, sand and toxic chemical into the ground under massive pressure to shatter the rocks and release trapped gas, has been linked to a string of environmental problems including water contamination and earthquakes in addition to exasabating climate change.

A strong movement against shale gas extraction, and other extreme energy practices such as coal bed methane (CBM) and underground coal gasification (UCG), has been growing across the world as the threats it poses to communities and the environment have become clear. In the UK resistance to fracking has taken off in the last few months with strong local campaigns in Lancashire, South Wales and Sussex. The top management of fracking company Cuadrilla Resources were mauled by local residents in a public meeting on Wednesday in the Sussex village of Balcombe.

Video of London Vigil:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtZWO477X50