Over Three Hours of Debate on the Third No-Confidence Vote

Tomorrow, July 4, at 13:10, Parliament will vote on the third motion of no confidence against the Zhelyazkov cabinet. The motion was submitted by “Vazrazhdane,” MECH, and “Velichie.” The initiators criticised the government’s handling of public finances, warning that failure to meet projected revenues may necessitate a budget revision.

Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova acknowledged that the projected revenues are indeed ambitious, but pointed out that expenditures have also been significant over the past four years. While today’s debate unfolded, another no-confidence motion—this time from “Velichie”—was filed with Parliament, focusing on environmental concerns due to illegal landfills.

The debate lasted over three and a half hours. The initiators of the motion cited failures in fiscal policy:

“This government’s budget is based on flawed targets, false statistical data, overly optimistic macroeconomic forecasts, and unrealistic expectations for tax revenue collection. Most importantly, there’s no public support for the cabinet’s intention to surrender a key aspect of Bulgaria’s sovereignty by destroying the 145-year-old Bulgarian lev,” said Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of “Vazrazhdane.”

“This budget has fake revenues, fake expenses, fake inflation, fake deficit—crafted by a fake government,” added Radostin Vasilev, leader of MECH.

“This fiscal policy is a failure. It will bankrupt us by next year. If we have 100 cows now giving milk, next year we’ll have 10,” explained Ivelin Mihaylov, leader of “Velichie.”

The ruling parties saw an attempt at political destabilisation behind the vote.

“A third no-confidence vote in six months is not a judgment on the government—it’s a diagnosis for the opposition. This will be their third failure. The alternative is going back four years without stable governance,” said Toma Bikov (GERB-UDF).

“At the start of the year, the fiscal situation was dire—delayed payments, frozen EU funds, and systemic risks. Despite this, the government has managed to achieve the impossible,” added Dragomir Stoynev (BSP-United Left).

Although WCC-DB and ARF are also in opposition - they will not support the vote.

“We will not take part in the vote. Let Kostadinov and ‘Vazrazhdane’ explain how they want a no-confidence vote against Borisov, who protects their MPs’ immunities. Clearly, there is strong trust between them,” said Ivaylo Mirchev (WCC-DB).

“We in ARF have serious disagreements with the motion’s arguments, especially those regarding the eurozone. ARF will not participate in the vote,” stated Hasan Ademov (ARF).

In closing, Finance Minister Petkova defended the budget:

“We and our colleagues from the National Revenue Agency and the Customs Agency are working diligently to meet the projected revenues for 2025. To those who doubt us—I say: don’t gloat too soon,” she remarked.
By the end of May, revenues amounted to BGN 31.5 billion, or 34.9% of the annual target.

“This motion is not truly about budget performance as of May 31, 2025. Its real aim is to hinder Bulgaria’s successful accession to the eurozone,” Petkova concluded.

Meanwhile, another motion—this time on ecological grounds—has already been filed by “Velichie,” citing the issue of unregulated waste dumps.

"And as a minister my first task was to fight unregulated dumps. We’ve issued numerous citations to municipalities and introduced legislative changes,” said Environment Minister Manol Genov.

Thus, another debate and vote on a no-confidence motion is expected next week.