President Radev: Bulgarians Expect Stability and Responsibility in Governance

UPDATED President Radev: Bulgarians Expect Stability and Responsibility in Governance

Nikolai Trifonov

President Rumen Radev is consulting the parliamentary parties ahead of offering a mandate for formation of a cabinet, Sofia, December 15, 2025 (BTA Photo/Milena Stoykova)

Sofia,

15.12.2025 10:38 | UPDATED 15.12.2025 11:28

(BTA)

Bulgarian citizens expect stability and responsibility in governance - regardless of who is in power - especially with regard to the 2026 budget and the introduction of the euro, in the complex situation in which Bulgaria finds itself, President Rumen Radev said at the beginning of consultation with GERB – UDF.

The head of state began consultations with the parliamentary groups ahead of offering a mandate for the formation of a new government after the Cabinet of Rosen Zhelyazkov resigned last week.

For Monday's consultations with the president, only Denitsa Sacheva, deputy floor leader of GERB–UDF, attended and all of the meeting was open to the media - unlike the customary practice that the talks are public at the beginning and then continue behind closed doors.

The President grabbed an opportunity to attack and thanked her "for coming and sparing the men in your party from embarrassment". "History has often shown that men hide behind women, so this does you credit,” Radev told Sacheva.

He also said that the GERB-led coalition "showed wisdom and submitted its resignation as a result of the large-scale protests that swept across the country". "You are also expected to show responsibility, and the government led by your party should continue to fully carry out its constitutional duties," Rumen Radev added.

The President told Sacheva that the government's fall was "the natural ending of a governance model" in which the voiced of people were not heard, rash decisions were made related to the adoption of the euro and no measures were taken to contain price spikes.

He dismissed accusations that he stands against parliamentarianism. "The divisions didn't originate in this building [of the President's administration]: they originated in the parties and a governance model that does not work for people but for narrow party interests and a few individuals which claim every day to be working for the people. This is where the government crashed because it showed an unwarranted control over the institutions that is far departed from the rules of operation of a democratic European government," said Radev.

/NF/