Bulgaria has finally managed to form a new government, with the Sofia Parliament giving its confidence to a coalition executive led by the Gerb People’s Party. The hope is to put an end to the longest political crisis in the history of the Balkan country since the end of Soviet communism.
Political instability
Bulgaria has faced seven elections in four years since a series of massive anti-corruption protests in 2021 led to the resignation of Boyko Borisov, three-time prime minister and leader of GERB (Bulgarian for Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria).
His party, winner of last October’s elections, announced yesterday that it had reached a coalition agreement with the Bulgarian Socialist Party – United Left, one of the two parties of the Turkish minority in Parliament, Democracy, Rights and Freedoms, and the populist formation ‘There is a People like This’ (Itn).
Borissov’s right wins in Bulgaria, but lacks (again) a clear majority
Borisov’s refusal to become prime minister for the fourth time was a condition of the agreement. Now, one hundred and twenty-five deputies voted in favor of the new government formation, led by former president of Parliament Rossen Jeliazkov, while 114 voted against.
“The country has long been in a political crisis, a crisis of confidence,” Jeliazkov said, promising to work to overcome it. The partners of the new coalition reached the agreement “in a difficult, dynamic and tense period, putting aside our ideological and political differences”, he added in his speech in Parliament.
Euro target
The 56-year-old lawyer, a close ally of Borisov, has held various positions, including that of transport minister in previous governments led by Gerb. Yesterday the Conservative Party, which is part of the People’s Party family, declared that the new government would continue its efforts to bring Bulgaria into the eurozone.
After years of waiting, Sofia obtained full membership of the Schengen zone only last January 1st, but still has to guarantee price stability to be able to request entry into the euro zone starting from 2026. Among the priorities of the new government also stand out the modernization of the army and the improvement of judicial procedures.