Bulgaria's President will hand over first mandate to seek to form a government on May 15

President Rumen Radev will hand over the first mandate to seek to form a government to the largest parliamentary group, GERB-UDF, on May 15. This was announced by the Head of State after he laid a wreath at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier together with Vice President, Iliana Iotova, on the occasion of Europe Day on May 9.

He added that he is counting on this time to be used in the best way. The National Assembly should realise its huge role, Radev said.

So far the National Assembly has not produced any result, it is absurd for MPs to talk about new elections without having fulfilled any of their commitments, President Radev said.

The parties refuse to take responsibility for the governance of the country, the President added. He commented that the MPs are trying to tie the hands of the caretaker cabinet by leaving it without an adopted budget.

We run the risk that very important laws will not be adopted, this means Bulgaria will lose not just money but the opportunity to accelerate the modernization of the country. The big risk is of even lower voter turnout and very low legitimacy of the next government, Radev said.

In his words, in an expert cabinet it is important who will bear political responsibility - something that parties can hardly decide.

Radev said what is more worrying than the attack on Prosecutor General Geshev is that the caretaker cabinet has repeatedly reported irregularities but there has been no movement on them.