Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a meeting in Brussels.
(dpa)
A motion of no confidence was tabled in the Bulgarian government on Wednesday. The vote is scheduled to take place next week. The liberal-socialist coalition government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov (PP) has only been in office since the end of 2021. She has not had an absolute majority in Parliament for seven days.
The opposition bourgeois party GERB led by ex-Prime Minister Boiko Borissov justified its motion of no confidence with a “failure of the government in economic and financial policy”. Entertainer Slawi Trifonov’s populist ITN, which co-governed until a week ago, also left the four-party coalition because of financial policy.
Another issue is Petkow’s North Macedonia policy. The ITN accused the head of government of wanting to single-handedly lift Bulgaria’s veto against the start of EU accession talks with Skopje. Two other opposition parties plan to vote against Petkov’s government.
A test of strength is likely to take place during a vote on the resignation of Parliament Speaker Nikola Minchev, which the opposition is calling for – probably this Thursday.