Bulgarian Turmoil Deepens as Premier Loses Confidence Vote

Slav Okov and Misha Savic
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

(Bloomberg) -- Bulgaria descended deeper into political crisis as Prime Minister Kiril Petkov’s government lost a vote of no-confidence, raising the prospect of a fourth general election within only two years.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Petkov, who has sought to tackle graft and curb Russian influence since taking office last year, said he will resign Monday after a former partner in his coalition joined opposition lawmakers to oust him in a parliamentary vote late Wednesday.

“We promise that we’ll continue our battle to win our country back,” Petkov told the assembly after the vote, which drew thousands of his supporters to rally in Sofia.

Party leaders will now have a chance to form a new government, with Petkov poised to get the first opportunity. If three attempts fail, President Rumen Radev will have to appoint an interim cabinet and schedule a snap election. Leaders were already raising the prospect of an early ballot as soon as September.

Petkov’s ouster has implications beyond the European Union nation of 7 million, since it throws a wrench in the bloc’s efforts to break a deadlock over other Balkan countries’ accession efforts.

His government collapsed over a dispute with the rebel coalition partner, which objected to his plan to help EU candidate North Macedonia start entry negotiations. Sofia has prevented its neighbor from advancing its membership bid over rival claims to cultural heritage and language by both countries, and its threat of a veto has also blocked another candidate, Albania, from starting talks.

“This Bulgarian affair is a disgrace,” Albanian Premier Edi Rama said in Brussels after meeting with top EU officials on Thursday.

“The Russian aggression of Ukraine is receiving extra generous and unsolicited help from a NATO country, Bulgaria, to destabilize another NATO country, North Macedonia,” Rama said.

Petkov has repeatedly said any deal on North Macedonia has to be approved by parliament, but he no longer controls a majority. Once he resigns, the process of seeking a new government will start, and he should stay in office until there’s a new administration or until Radev appoints an interim cabinet.

The government’s fall also may hinder Bulgaria from adopting the euro in early 2024 and risks delaying its receipt of as much as 6.3 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in EU funding under the bloc’s plan to help countries recover from the Covid crisis.

If the turmoil leads to early elections, it may boost nationalist and pro-Russian forces in a country with traditionally strong ties to Russia. Opinion polls show that if a vote were held now, anti-EU nationalists would double their seats in parliament, while a new conservative party, led by Petkov’s former defense minister, may also make it into the assembly.

(Updates with comments from Petkov, Albanian premier from sixth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.