Politics of Europe

The recent turbulence caused by the collapse of Credit Suisse, Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank will probably not mark a new fiscal crisis, Deputy Head of Financial Sector and Market Analysis at the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), Paolo Fioretti, told the Delphi Economic Forum on Thursday.

At the first official meeting in a leadership format between the first two political forces in the 49th parliament - GERB-SDS and "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria", WCC-DB again announced that they will not support a government with the first mandate of GERB.

A year after the election in Slovenia the two biggest rivals, the Freedom Movement and the Democrats (SDS), are neck-and-neck at the top of the polls. There is unprecedented polarisation, the ruling party's falling ratings show its honeymoon is over and the opposition is in a state of flux, pundits say.

With 220 votes in favor, the parliament created a temporary committee that should draft the new parliament's rules of procedure. It will have 12 representatives from each parliamentary group, and GERB deputy Radomir Cholakov was elected chairman.

Rosen Zhelyazkov was elected chairman of the 49th National Assembly. 136 MPs voted for his candidacy, 0 against, 94 abstained.

STRASBOURG - Serbia's Ambassador to the Council of Europe (CoE) Aleksandra Djurovic said on Tuesday in Strasbourg the Quint states were exerting great pressure on Iceland, which chairs the CoE Committee of Ministers, to put the so-called Kosovo's CoE membership bid on the body's agenda.

The two largest parliamentary formations - GERB and "We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria" are preparing a common legislative program, which they will propose to the other political forces in the National Assembly after the holidays.

The leaders of GERB - Boyko Borissov and of BSP - Kornelia Ninova, held an informal meeting in the National Assembly building. After it, it became clear that the red lines remain between the parties regarding weapons and the war in Ukraine, but there is a readiness for the formations to work together on social policies. Ninova commented after the meeting:

"I want to form a government with We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria". This was stated by GERB leader Boyko Borissov on the sidelines of the parliament. According to him, this is the best option for Bulgaria.

The election of the Speaker of the National Assembly is postponed until after Easter.

After yesterday's false start with the election of the chairman of the 49th National Assembly, today the deputies gathered again in the plenary hall in an attempt to repeat the election.