Pro-Russian Eurosceptic Rumen Radev promised on Thursday to reduce prices and restore stability in Bulgaria after appointing a new cabinet after the president gave him a mandate to form a government following mass protests that led to the overthrow of the previous one, Reuters reported on the occasion of President Yotova's handing over a mandate to form a government to Rumen Radev today.
The “Progressive Bulgaria“ party The former fighter pilot's party won 44.6% of the vote in the April 19 parliamentary election, giving it a majority of seats in the 240-seat legislature.
Radev stepped down from Bulgaria's largely ceremonial presidency in January to run in the election after protests against corruption and rising living costs forced the previous government from power in December.
A PB victory would allow him to lead Bulgaria's first one-party government in nearly three decades.
Velislava Petrova-Chamova and Galab Donev, who served as caretaker prime minister in 2022-2023, will take over as foreign and finance ministers in the new cabinet, which will need to quickly adopt a new budget, set a debt ceiling to ensure pension and wage payments, and try to secure funds from EU.
“We will reverse the trend of sharp price increases, we will restore stability with a new Supreme Judicial Council and its inspectorate“, Radev said.
“We will assume the payments that are due to us under the Recovery and Resilience Plan“, Radev added, referring to hundreds of millions of euros withheld by the European Commission, mainly due to delayed anti-corruption legislation and judicial reforms regarding the Prosecutor General.
The rating agency “Fitch“ said last month that Radev's plan to replace members of the Supreme Judicial Council, which selects the prosecutor general, would be an early test of his ability to implement domestic anti-corruption reforms.
She also pointed to the risk of rising energy prices due to the conflict in the Middle East, which is weighing on growth, Reuters also notes.
The cabinet is expected to be approved by parliament on Friday.
Voters, analysts and diplomats are also waiting to see how pro-Russian Radev's government will be. At a recent election rally, he showed photos on a big screen of himself with world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Representatives of Radev's party dismissed concerns about any extreme turns in foreign policy, the international agency's publication concludes.