Bulgaria’s second-largest parliamentary group, the PP-DB, has rejected the president’s call to form a new government, raising the possibility of snap elections, Reuters reports.
The government led by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov resigned on the 11th of December after weeks of protests against corruption and the 2026 budget, which included several tax increases. Zhelyazkov’s government, which took office in January 2025, had hoped to at least meet the euro’s adoption on the 1st of January, 2026, but decided to bow to public and presidential demands to resign.
In accordance with the constitution, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev first offered to form a new government on the 12th of January to the largest political group in parliament, the conservative GERB-SDS, but it declined the task. On the 14th of January,
the PP-DB, which wants to build closer cooperation with the European Union, also rejected Radev’s offer.
Radev is now expected to give another party the opportunity to form a government, and if it also refuses, he will have to call early elections. This will be the eighth time in four years that voters in Bulgaria have gone to the polls.
Despite political instability, Bulgaria joined the eurozone on the 1st of January as planned. However, stable policies are needed to attract EU funds to its crumbling infrastructure, allow foreign investment in and get rid of corruption.
The GERB-SDS coalition won the last election in October 2024, but only began work in early 2025 after months of negotiations, and even then needed support from other parties in the divided parliament.
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