Executive Bureau

GERB and DPS are seven votes short of forming a regular government. Tomorrow, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) will decide whether to support the first mandate at a party executive bureau meeting, OFFNews reported.

A domino effect of reactions inside and outside SYRIZA has been triggered in the last few hours by Stefanos Kasselakis’ sudden decision to suspend the publication of the daily edition of the historic newspaper “Avgi”. Party MPs, executives, and prominent figures from the Left, literature, and press have expressed strong opposition to this “sudden death” of the publication.

Former Bulgarian Prime Minister and Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Sergey Stanishev has announced his return to politics but clarified that he will not participate in the upcoming parliamentary or European elections. Stanishev made this declaration during a press conference at BTA, shortly after the BSP released its list for the European elections, which notably did not include him.

After four days of intense behind-the-scenes activity at the SYRIZA congress, turmoil and a charged atmosphere that went far beyond political boundaries, the polarizing tendencies within the party remain. In spite of claims of the opposite by party officials close to the leadership, the aftertaste of the congress was more on the sour side as the image of the party appeared tarnished. 

SYRIZA's crushing defeat in the May 21 and June 25 elections had de facto put the leftist party on the road to change - and the resignation of its leader Alexis Tsipras.

In a televised address on Thursday, Tsipras announced his decision, stating that "the time has come to start a new cycle," while calling for the party's reform.

The BSP plenum confirmed the decision of the Executive Bureau and the parliamentary group of the BSP coalition for Bulgaria to end the negotiations with GERB-SDS to form a government with the first mandate. BSP leader Kornelia Ninova summarized the decisions:

"Today we held a meeting with GERB for the first mandate. We think that GERB has a wrong concept of forming a government at this difficult time. Mr. Borissov nominated a party candidate, he came up with his own tasks and priorities". This was stated by the leader of the left, Kornelia Ninova.

The caretaker government has requested information from the services on the subject of the truck that blew up on the Crimean bridge, cabinet spokesman Anton Kutev explained to BTA.

"Inspections are carried out by both the National Security State Agency (SANS) and the Ministry of the Interior. We have to see what the results will be," Kutev pointed out.

Less than 24 hours after the expulsion of 70 Russian diplomats, BSP leader Kornelia Ninova announced that the Bulgarian Socialist Party has suspended all negotiations with "We Continue the Change" to form a cabinet.

Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Ludovic Orban said on Wednesday that he will not vote on a motion of censure against the prime minister and no liberal MP will, emphasising that as national chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL) he defends the government.