Bulgaria's PM Says Country Will Plunge into Crisis If He Runs for President

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has asserted neither he nor Tsvetan Tsvetanov, the deputy of his conservative GERB party, would run in this autumn's presidential election.

In a telephone interview with satellite channel TV+, he has made clear that petty fights for power or any kind of elections at the moment would result in a large-scale crisis in Bulgaria, so there is no chance his name is among the candidates.

Bororisov heads a minority government made of three major actors (his conservative GERB party, a loose coalition of centrist and right-wing parties called Reformist Bloc, and left-wing ABV party) and backed by a nationalist coalition called Patriotic Front. Experts have suggested it is only Borisov's personal political capital that is causing the coalition to remain stable.

He has also downplayed any suggestions the deputy head of GERB, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, formerly also an Interior Minister, could be a candidate, as "there is simply no way for him to be elected".

Borisov has reiterated that it will not be before the summer that GERB will officially endorse a presidential candidate.

It is not clear whether incumbent Rosen Plevneliev, who was nominated by GERB in 2011 (and had been Regional Development Minister in Borisov's first cabinet prior to that), will stand for reelection.