GERB party renounces forming government in Bulgaria and admits new elections – World

• Photo: Johanna Geron/Reuters

Mariya Gabriel

The Bulgarian Citizens for European Development party (GERB, conservative) announced this Sunday that it is no longer trying to form a coalition government after the breakdown of negotiations with the liberal We Pursue Change – Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB).

According to GERB, which called for new early elections, the sixth in three years, the talks failed after the PP-DB presented new demands.

Mariya Gabriel, candidate for prime minister for GERB, expressed her willingness to resume negotiations after a new vote and asked all parties to analyze their campaign strategies, according to the Bulgarian digital portal Novinite.

Gabriel revealed that the GERB would guarantee the ministries of Defense and Energy and that exchanges had been agreed in the Ministry of the Interior, adding that there was harmony on the main issues under discussion.

“But we will not allow them to use us and pressure us, to constantly change the conditions and rules. This is over”, said Denitsa Sacheva, another GERB representative.

The last government led by Nikolai Denkov resigned at the beginning of March to facilitate the rotation agreed between the coalition members in 2023. Gabriel would be the new prime minister and Denkov her “number two”.

The new elections could make it difficult to introduce the euro on January 1, 2025, as planned. Bulgaria also plans to join the Schengen area on March 31, currently only covering air and sea borders.