Todor Tagarev

With 132 votes, Nikolay Denkov was elected Prime Minister. 201 Bulgarian deputies voted. There were 69 against, no abstentions.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev (R) receives a folder with the names of ministers from prime ministerial candidate Nikolay Denkov in Sofia on June 5. EPA-EFE/VASSIL DONEV

The move is likely to bring an end to two years of political turmoil which has seen five parliamentary elections held in Bulgaria.

At the last minute, the government changed its proposal for defense minister. Instead of Todor Tagarev, announced yesterday, the cabinet will nominate Dragomir Zakov.

Kiril Petkov announced the change. The new candidate is Bulgaria's permanent representative to NATO.

Bulgaria: New Candidate for Minister of Defense has been Announced

Todor Tagarev is the candidate for the new Minister of Defense, proposed by "We Continue the Change". This was announced by Prime Minister Kiril Petkov after an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday.

"A very important priority for the next government must be to ensure full readiness for the acceptance of purchased and already paid F-16 fighter jets and to achieve full operational capability very quickly once they arrive - say, by 2024-2025.

Todor Tagarev, a Bulgarian defense expert who served as interim Defense Minister in March-May 2013, is taking over as head of a key R&D and training institute with the ministry.

Tagarev was appointed to the office by Minister Nikolay Nenchev on Wednesday, the Defense Ministry's press service says.

Bulgaria must boost defense spending in response to Russia's invasion in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, caretaker Defense Minister Velizar Shalamanov told the Financial Times' beyondbrics blog.