Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

If no government is formed, there will be new elections in March at the earliest: President Radev

Photo: BGNES-archive

The consultations under President Rumen Radev with the parties represented in the parliament to form a government turned into a dispute over the rearming of the Bulgarian army during the meeting between the president and the "Democratic Bulgaria" coalition. 

The president criticized the thesis that Bulgaria should provide its old Soviet weaponry to Ukraine in order to receive older NATO systems from its allies in return. 
The co-chairman of "Democratic Bulgaria" Hristo Ivanov replied that the problem with the delayed modernization of the army was systemic. The politician emphasized that the president speculated that if Sofia gave weapons to Ukraine, it would enter as a country in the war, because other Western countries also supply weapons to Ukraine, but they are not belligerent countries. 

"Putin has an interest in a disunited Europe to impose his will. After February 24, no matter how late it is, we must stand on the side of Ukraine and not scare people", Ivanov added. 

Regarding the formation of a government, the president pointed out that in the last elections the Bulgarian citizens gave a vote in which no party could govern alone. Arithmetic shows that no less than 3 parties are needed to form a government. In order for it to be stable, the creation of a coalition with priorities and structure is required to assure the Bulgarian citizens that this is not an unprincipled gathering of parties, Ivanov said.

The President indicated that he would not rush to hand over the mandates to form a government. "I will not schedule elections in January and February. We can only imagine what this will lead to, and the risk of even lower voter turnout is real. So the third term will be handed over after the new year, so that there will be elections in the month of March," stressed Radev.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Eurobarometer: Bulgarians’ trust in the EU is a little over the average for the Union

A Eurobarometer survey has registered the highest level of trust in the European Union since 2007 and the highest level of support ever for the common currency, the euro, both in the EU as a whole (74%) and in the euro area (81%). In Bulgaria,..

published on 11/30/24 4:30 PM

Children and their parents make toys for the Christmas decoration of Sofia

Despite the bad weather, dozens of children and their parents took part in an initiative for making toys for the Christmas decoration of the capital city. At the initiative of Sofia municipality, a workshop was put up in the square in front of..

published on 11/30/24 3:46 PM
Atanas Atanasov

Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria to nominate Atanas Atanasov for president of the National Assembly (UPDATE)

The Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) are to nominate the party’s leader Atanas Atanasov for president of the 51 st National Assembly. According to BNR sources, the decision was made by the party’s national leadership and will be put to..

updated on 11/30/24 3:24 PM