Bulgaria’s National Assembly voted on July 11 to reject the fourth motion of no confidence in the Rossen Zhelyazkov government that took office in January.
In the 240-seat Parliament, the vote was 131 against and 83 in favour, with no abstentions.
The motion was tabled by populist-nationalist party Velichie, Parliament’s smallest group, and was supported by the signatures of populist-nationalist party Mech, Parliament’s second-smallest group, and pro-Russian party Vuzrazhdane. It was on the topic of the environment.
The votes against came from Boiko Borissov’s GERB-UDF, Magnitsky-Act sanctioned Delyan Peevski’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, the Bulgarian Socialist Party – United Left, populist ITN and the four non-aligned MPs.
The votes in favour came from Velichie, Mech, Vuzrazhdane, We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, and the Ahmed Dogan loyalists of the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF).
Of the votes from the WCC – DB group, all but one came from WCC. Minutes before the start of the July 11 sitting, DB said that it would not participate in the vote, barring casting one vote in favour.
WCC-DB previously shunned the first three motions of no confidence, saying that it did not want to prejudice Bulgaria’s path to the euro zone. On July 8, European Union finance ministers gave final and official approval to Bulgaria adopting the euro as its currency as of the beginning of 2026.
ARF, formerly a supporter of the ruling majority before withdrawing its support, also voted in favour, though like WCC, the votes it added could not bring the total in favour close to the minimum 121 required for the motion to be approved.
The first motion of no confidence in the Zhelyazkov was tabled by Vuzrazhdane in April, on the grounds of foreign policy, and the second was tabled later in April by Mech, on the grounds of corruption. The third, which was rejected on July 4, was tabled by Vuzrazhdane, Mech and Veliche, on the grounds of what they called the failure the government’s fiscal policy.
(Photo: parliament.bg)
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