Bulgaria's President-Elect 'Refuses Role' in Creating Interim Govt

Bulgarian President-elect Rumen Radev will not have any role in forming an interim government together with incumbent Rosen Plevneliev, the socialists' leader has said.

Radev was elected in November with the backing of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). The latter's chair, Korneliya Ninova, turned down an option to form a new government within the current legislature earlier on Wednesday.

The President-elect himself did not immediately comment on Ninova's words.

In November, however, he initially agreed to take part in a joint effort to form a caretaker cabinet if political parties failed to create a new parliamentary majority after Boyko Borisov stepped down as Prime Minister.

He later backtracked, saying such a move would be out of the scope of his term which begins on January 22.