The no confidence motion, filed on Wednesday, is backed by 58 MPs from the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the nationalist, pro-Russian party Vazrazhdane and the populist There Is Such a People (TISP), and one independent MP, according to a document published on the National Assembly website.
To succeed, the motion needs to be supported by at least 121 MPs in the 240-seat National Assembly. The two power-sharing political formations, the GERB-UDF coalition led by ex-Premier Boyko Borissov and the pro-European liberal coalition We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (WCC-DB), have 69 MPs and 63 MPs, respectively. The Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which has so far been supporting the government, has 36 MPs. The three opposition parties have 71 MPs combined.
The opposition parties levelled criticism at the government's defence policies, claiming they pose a significant threat to Bulgaria's national security amid escalating geopolitical conflicts. The opposition parties claim that these policies strain the nation's military capabilities, ultimately benefiting foreign interests rather than safeguarding Bulgaria's sovereignty. The motion signatories criticised the delay in procuring Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter planes, the decision to purchase US-made Stryker armoured vehicles without prior parliamentary approval and plans to invest 100 million levs ($54.7 million/51.1 million euro) in the construction of a new military base near the southern town of Yambol for the deployment of NATO troops.
This is the second no confidence vote in less than a month initiated by the same three parliamentary parties. The rotational government comfortably survived a vote of no confidence over its energy policy in October.
On Friday, Bulgaria will host NATO's deputy secretary general, Mircea Geoana, who will meet with Bulgarian prime minister Nikolay Denkov and address the NATO multinational battlegroup’s troops stationed in the country, NATO said in a statement on Wednesday.
