In Bulgaria, a coalition government faced a significant setback as a no-confidence motion was presented in the Sofia Parliament on a Wednesday by the conservative populist opposition. The event pointed toward possible new elections, the fourth such round within 18 months.
During the voting, a total of 116 deputies supported Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and his minority executive, who had been in office for six months. By contrast, 123 lawmakers voted against the government, while one member abstained from the vote.
The origins of the latest political crisis trace back to tensions within the anti-system ITN party, led by renowned singer Slavi Trifonov, which had left the government coalition a few weeks earlier.
The motion enjoyed backing from Bulgaria’s main opposition party, the populist conservative GERB, the Turkish ethnic party DPS, the pro-Russian ultranationalist Vazrazhdane, and ITN itself. Notably, six ITN parliamentarians who had joined the government’s ranks chose to stay aligned with the coalition during the motion.
Petkov, who leads the We Continue the Change party and emerged victorious in last November’s elections, had formed a coalition with the socialist party and the Euro-Atlantic-facing Democratic Bulgaria, a protest-oriented formation advocating closer ties with Western institutions.
As a fourth partner, ITN, under Trifonov, decided to pull its four ministers from the cabinet on June 8 after accusing Petkov of mismanaging public funds and seeking to lift Bulgaria’s veto on the Northern Macedonia EU accession process. The dispute underscores ongoing frictions with North Macedonia regarding shared history and minority rights guarantees in the neighboring country.
Sofia remains entangled in a broader disagreement with Skopje dating back to 2020, centered on how history is interpreted and how the rights of ethnic Bulgarians living in North Macedonia are safeguarded.
Also, the association with Nazi Germany during World War II remains a sensitive element in the regional narrative.
Following Trifonov’s departure from the coalition, Petkov’s majority in the Assembly narrowed to 109 seats, far short of the 121 needed for a simple majority among the 240 seats.
Since exiting the government, six ITN MPs have declared themselves independent, while continuing to receive support from the Petkov administration.
In a related development, the new balance of power produced a notable first outcome last Thursday, when, at ITN’s request, Parliament Speaker Nikola Minchev, aligned with Petkov, was dismissed by a vote of 125 to 0 from the opposition. Minchev described that decision as a dress rehearsal for today’s no-confidence vote.
If the government collapses, President Rumen Radev will task the caretaker authorities with forming a new government, with the We Continue the Change party given seven days to assemble a parliamentary majority. Absent a viable coalition, GERB could be invited to form a government. If none of the possible coalitions comes together, parliamentary elections are likely to be called in the autumn period.