Bulgarian parliament elects pro-EU government that can help Ukraine

The pro-EU government of former prime minister Boyko Borissov’s GERB and the pro-European liberal coalition “We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria” (PP-DB), which will have two prime ministers rotating every nine months, was appointed by parliament on Tuesday.

This is also a chance for Bulgaria to emerge from the deepest political crisis in its recent history.

Chemistry professor Nikolay Denkov (We Continue the Change), who has experience in four governments as minister of education, has been selected as one of the two rotating prime ministers.

However, at the start of 2024, he will be replaced by former Bulgarian European commissioner Mariya Gabriel (GERB), who will initially be deputy prime minister and foreign minister. The rotating Denkov-Gabriel government has a planned horizon of one and a half years, which can be extended to the maximum term of four years.

GERB and PP-DB have also promised to work for Bulgaria’s admission to the Eurozone, the visa-free Schengen area, deep judicial reform, and modernisation of the army.

The group also proposes sending military aid to Ukraine, something the caretaker government appointed by President Rumen Radev previously blocked.

Bulgaria is one of the largest producers of Soviet-standard weapons and ammunition, which Ukraine desperately needs for its counteroffensive, though Radev has ruled the country for the past ten months and has resisted aid to Ukraine.

“Congratulations, Nikolay Denkov, on being sworn in as Bulgaria’s Prime Minister. And congratulations to my former colleague and new deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel. Looking forward to working with you on our common EU agenda, for a strong Bulgaria in a strong Europe”, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.

Although the government had secured the support of the two largest groups of GERB and PP-DB, it received the symbolic support of the two most influential MPs from the Turkish minority party DPS – party leader Mustafa Karadayi and MP Delyan Peevski sanctioned under Magnitsky Act. who wants to participate in the constitutional reform of the judiciary in Bulgaria. The other MPs from the DPS did not vote.

The pro-Russian parties Bulgarian Socialist Party, Vazrazhdane and the populist formation of the former showman Slavi Trifonov “There is such a people”, voted against the government, while 131 voted in favour, and 69 against.

Radev immediately left the plenary hall before the oath, explaining that he had taken the same oath and could not hear someone pronounce it as a formality.

Radev, who took a hard line on the PP-DB after the leak of recordings of a party meeting of “We Continue the Change”, accused GERB and PP-DB of betraying their voters.

The recordings revealed that future intelligence chiefs were coordinated with Western embassies, but specific country names were not mentioned.

Not my childhood dream

Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said in parliament that the unique formula of a cabinet with rotating prime ministers was decided because of the problematic situation in the country in an attempt to get out of a political crisis and avoid another early general election.

“My childhood dream was not to be the prime minister of a country in a severe political and economic crisis and a divided society. I take this risk with the commitment that if our priorities are changed or go in the wrong direction, I will resign,” Denkov said. He emphasised several times how much he relies on Gabriel, who will be deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the first nine months of the government.

Gabriel is indeed the best partner to talk to the European institutions about realising the country’s top priorities – Schengen and the Eurozone, he said. The government will conduct an active campaign against disinformation about adopting the euro.

‘Velvet coup’

The leader of the pro-Russian party Vazrazhdane, Kostadin Kostadinov, declared the formation of the cabinet a “velvet coup” carried out by the US embassy in Bulgaria. “We are not discussing the cabinet of Bulgaria, but the cabinet of the American ambassador,” Kostadinov declared. There was a small protest in front of the parliament by his supporters, who Kostadinov called to civil disobedience.

“Vazrazhdane” deputy Deyan Nikolov said that the government’s election was a “coup d’état, behind which the CIA is standing.”

In response, Denkov accused “Vazrazhdane” of working against the country’s interests. “The worse it is for Bulgaria, the better for your leader,” Denkov said.

(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)