President Radev about the National Assembly: It is high time to find a way out of the political crisis

The surprising thing is that from the very beginning of the National Assembly, instead of yielding results when it convenes, it starts with a constitutional crisis. This is how Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev commented the debate on the election of the Parliament Speaker.

Radev is on a working visit to Brussels on 20 and 21 October, where he is representing Bulgaria at the European Council meeting.

"It is high time to find a way out of the political crisis we are in. I very much hope that reason will prevail and our MPs will constitute a National Assembly. This means uniting around a Speaker at least so that the Parliament can start functioning," he said.

Without parliamentary groups being constituted, consultations on forming a cabinet cannot begin either, Radev stressed. He criticised MPs for dealing with internal issues for a second day.

"New sanctions against Russia are not being discussed, we will discuss how to increase aid to Ukraine as it is facing a humanitarian crisis. We will do our best to help Ukraine in the difficult winter," the President said.

He commented that the resignation of Liz Truss as Prime Minister of the UK was the result of the failure to deal with the energy crisis.

The focus of the meeting of heads of state and government in Brussels is expected to be on the war in Ukraine, the consequences of the energy and economic crisis for Europe, the European Union's foreign policy issues and the fight against climate change.