Bulgaria's 50th National Assembly Ends With Little Accomplishment as Another Election Looms

In just a day, the 50th National Assembly will begin its summer vacation, which is only scheduled to be interrupted once for the swearing in of the caretaker government. At the beginning of September, the deputies will briefly reconvene in the plenary hall before breaking again for the upcoming election campaign.

Unless there are unforeseen developments or significant shifts in attitude, the parliament has only a few sessions remaining before it concludes. The record of its brief three-month existence is disheartening. Efforts to find governing formulas and the fragmentation of parliamentary groups have rendered substantial legislative progress nearly impossible, overshadowed by the looming early elections.

MPs have largely engaged in unproductive ministerial hearings, with the few laws passed either involving technical amendments or aimed at electoral mobilization, such as the Russian-style law addressing non-traditional sexual orientations.

Deputy Ivaylo Valchev from "There Is Such a People" previously described the last days of the 49th National Assembly as marked by futile activities, a sentiment that applies equally to the current parliament. Informal discussions with MPs suggest that key reforms, such as those needed to unblock payments under the European Recovery and Resilience Plan or amendments to the judiciary law limiting Supreme Court appointments, are likely to remain unaddressed.

Furthermore, the parliament will probably not attempt to fill over 90 positions in key state bodies that have been vacant for years. On its final day before the break, MPs are set to discuss changes to the Environmental Law, including the removal of the option for second-instance appeals in environmental impact assessment cases for major national...