Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Parliament votes in second reading to allow Bulgarians with dual citizenship to become MPs and ministers

Photo: БТА

MPs adopted amendments to the Constitution in the second of three readings. One of them limits the President's powers in choosing the composition of the caretaker government. The president will now have to appoint a prime minister from a list of people, and after criticism the head of the Supreme Court of Cassation was excluded from the list. The caretaker prime minister will therefore be chosen from among the speaker of the National Assembly, the governor or deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, the president or deputy president of the National Audit Office and the ombudsman or his deputy. If all of the above refuse to take office, the caretaker cabinet will be elected by the National Assembly.
The majority in the National Assembly also approved other important changes to the country's Basic Law, allowing Bulgarian citizens who also hold another citizenship to be elected as ministers and MPs. A requirement of having lived in the country for 18 months will apply to MPs, but not to ministers. 
"Of all the EU countries, Bulgaria is the only one that does not give Bulgarian citizens this right. The time has come," argued Antoaneta Tsoneva of Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB). "They have drilled a huge hole in the national security system," said Atanas Zafirov of the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). The opposition said that it would file a complaint against the constitutional changes.



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

Prominent artists to participate in a plein air on the banks of the Danube

The twenty-ninth national plein air in fine arts “Creator and Nature” will take place in the village of Vetren on the banks of the Danube from August 22 to 28, the organizers from the local Association of Artists and the Municipality of Silistra told..

published on 8/22/25 8:00 AM

Kyustendil hosts the ''Short Film, Long Bus'' festival for short documentaries

"Short Film, Long Bus" is the name of an intriguing event set to take place from August 22 to 24 in the town of Kyustendil (Southwestern Bulgaria). The project by the Students’ Community Center St. Kliment Ohridski 1997 combines a festival of  short..

published on 8/22/25 6:10 AM

Cooler weather expected on Friday

During the night, the weather will be mostly clear with a light southerly wind. A cold atmospheric front will pass over the country on Friday. Winds will shift from the west-northwest and will strengthen. Cumulonimbus clouds will develop in..

published on 8/21/25 6:40 PM