Empty houses with gaping window openings and 50-odd people remain in the community, down from some 400 in 2009. That was when it was decided to tear down the village to make space for the mine.

Now it seems the facility may not have a long life either. Bulgaria has committed to exiting coal by 2040 as part of EU efforts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century under its Green Deal.

"The situation is tragic," said Beli Bryag mayor Ivelina Dimcheva, whose husband and brother are miners.

"It's absurd to destroy our houses to expand a mine, which risks closing afterwards," she told AFP.

Her clan is among five families who have refused to accept a compensation deal to relocate. Instead, they have taken their case to court to save their homes.

The Green Deal, unpopular in coal-dependent Bulgaria, is a major issue ahead of the European parliamentary elections on June 9 and the country's own national election the same day.

- Green deal a 'charade' -

Coal workers have been offered "no prospects", said Stanimir Georgiev, 50, a 30-year veteran of the mines who is organising strikes and protests to defend his livelihood in the run-up to the European polls.

"The Green Deal is a charade which threatens our well-being and fuels anti-European feelings," he said outside the Maritsa East coal-fired power plant complex, which gets its supplies from the Beli Bryag mine.

Russian flags fly outside houses in this central region of Bulgaria, which is traditionally close to Russia.

With its three mines, the Maritsa East basin is home to four power plants, employing more than 11,000 people directly and 70,000 indirectly. It has been a boon for the region for decades.

Bulgaria, the 27-nation EU's poorest country, has long fought Brussels to extend the sector's lifespan before eventually conceding to phasing out coal.

Coal-fired power plants supply almost a third of the country's winter energy needs, but the Balkan country became a net importer of energy for the first time this year, as the country has been slow to transition to cleaner energy.

The EU's emissions trading system, which requires companies to pay in order to exceed emissions limits, has made coal-fired power plants less and less profitable.

"It's the fault of our governments that dragged their feet" in preparing for the energy transition, said Diyan Ivanov, 36, from a mining family. His hours have been cut drastically as demand drops.

But former economy minister Milen Keremedchiev said there was no point in denouncing the closure of coal-fired power plants. "It's like protesting against impending old age," he said.

- Coal leader Poland -

While Bulgaria struggles with its energy transition, the EU's biggest coal producer, Poland, appears to be turning the page on the fossil fuel.

The country plans to give up coal by 2049 -- a date that pro-EU Prime Minister Donald Tusk could bring forward.

Its share in the country's energy mix has fallen from 87 percent in 2015 to 63 percent last year, according to official figures, against a backdrop of soaring costs.

There are still around 20 coal mines in Poland, most of them loss-making operations that only survive through state aid.

The sector still employs 75,000 people, down from 400,000 in 1990.

Renewable energies represent a quarter of the energy mix, compared to only five percent 10 years ago, said Grzegorz Wisniewski of the Warsaw-based Institute for Renewable Energy.

He expected that share to increase to between 70 and 80 percent by 2040 despite administrative and technical obstacles, such as an electricity grid which needs to be adapted.

But Poland remains home to the massive Belchatow brown coal-fired power station, the EU's "single largest greenhouse gas emitter", according to environmental nonprofit Ember.