site.btaPresident Iotova: Legislature Should Prioritize Budget Adoption

Addressing the just sworn-in MPs during the inaugural sitting of the 52nd National Assembly here on Thursday, Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova said that the legislature must go ahead with voting a 2026 national budget as one of its key functions.

She described the extension of the 2025 budget as "one of the most serious manifestations of impasse of the time past".

"Any delay now dooms citizens, business, municipalities and the institutions themselves to stagnation and unpredictability," the head of State said. "We are aware that not everything can be done by the wave of a magic wand. It will be difficult, but we must do it with concerted efforts," Iotova added.

"Restoring Bulgarian citizens' trust in Bulgarian institutions will not be easy and will not be fast, but this will be a task of all institutions and of branches of government," the President said.

"Bulgarian citizens categorically mandated a single political force, Progressive Bulgaria, expecting stable governance and an orderly State, with genuine separation of powers as ordained by the basic law of the land, the Bulgarian Constitution."

"We Bulgarian citizens expect justice and legality, a crackdown on abuses and corruption that cost us millions in our money. We expect quick and effective administration of justice."

"It is time that Bulgaria cease acting like a timid guest in the European family," the head of State argued. "Nineteen years after our admission [to the EU], our strong and influential voice must be heard because our view, our position and viewpoint are worth and are valued exactly as much as those of each of the 27 Member States. We have what to offer for the security of the EU's external borders, we have what to say about the development of the Western Balkans, we have what to show as a country that can be a hub of the economy of the future. Europe needs exactly these voices in order to regain its leading positions on the international stage, to be competitive and to guarantee the high standards of its citizens," Iotova said in her address.