We Continue the Change

"'Gazprom' is not just a trader or a supplier, it is a geopolitical weapon of Russia, which is in a severe confrontation not only with Ukraine, but also with the EU and NATO, and with the entire international order on which our way of life rests."

Workers at the construction site of the interconnected IGB gas transmission pipeline, starting at Komotini, Greece and ending at Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, March 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/DIMITRIS TOSIDIS.

Issues have arisen over the certification of the project, which prompted interim Energy Minister Rosen Hristov, who is yet to publicly comment on the matter, to block the process. 

Instability Ahead

"I read an interesting comment by a political scientist. He said this - 'President Radev has a complex towards the people who created him'. There is probably something like that - a male complex towards the woman who made him president."

This was commented on bTV by the chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Kornelia Ninova.

GERB and "We Continue the Change" are approaching positions, the difference between them being less than 1 percent. They would get 22.2 percent and 21.5 percent of the votes, respectively, if the elections were held today.

"There should be peace, understanding and tolerance. The election is only one day away. Elections pass, but we continue to live together. Partners are found in life, in the field, during elections." This was stated by former Prime Minister and current leader of GERB, Boyko Borissov.

Borissov commented on whether he would support an expert government.

At 5:00 p.m., President Rumen Radev will receive the candidate for Prime Minister, nominated by the largest parliamentary group in the 47th National Assembly, Asen Vassilev, to whom, according to the constitutional procedure, he handed over the first exploratory mandate to form a government within the current parliament.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov arrives for the European Council Summit in Brussels, Belgium, 24 March 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/JULIEN WARNAND

"We can't find 121 MPs who are not afraid", Petkov told the media, referring to the number needed for a majority in parliament, and the influence that criminal structures allegedly have on parliament.

The Parliament changed the threshold for mandatory VAT registration from 50,000 to 100,000 BGN (51,000 EUR) turnover. The amendment was accepted at first reading.

In a traditional for "We Continue the Change" style, final talks with coalition partners on the governance program for the next six months were being held late last night.