site.btaParliament Chair Says 2026 State Budget Is Top Priority

National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova on Sunday said the adoption of the 2026 State Budget Act is the top priority of the parliamentary session which started on September 3. She told the media in Balchik she was optimistic: "People say: 'We want to live better,' and we strive to fix things that can be improved."

She also talked about the government's stability and about proposed amendments regarding the election of the heads of the security services.

According to Kiselova, the government's survival of a no-confidence motion on September 18 was expected, since even the initiators themselves [Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria and MECh] - had repeatedly said they did not expect it to succeed. "The initiators also said they expected their top concerns to be heard. These are the issues that the second-largest parliamentary group [CC-DB] has been raising for years," she added.

"If we are talking about stability, this question should be put to all parliamentary groups. When there are nine parties in Parliament, it is normal for some of them not to want stability so that elections can be held, since they expect a better outcome," said Kiselova.

Asked if the heads of the security services should be elected by the National Assembly rather than appointed by the President, she said the Constitution sets out the powers that fall explicitly within the President's remit, which he exercises either independently or jointly with other bodies. "Regarding the heads of the security services, Parliament could have the authority to decide. Bills addressing this matter have been introduced and the debate lies ahead. Such a debate was held more than ten years ago, and again two years ago, so this is part of the political debate," Kiselova commented.

The draft amendments were moved by seven MPs of the government coalition: GERB-UDF, the Bulgarian Socialist Party-United Left and There Is Such a People, and were adopted on first reading by the parliamentary Internal Security and Public Order Committee on September 18. According to these revisions, the chairpersons of the State Agency for National Security, the State Intelligence Agency and the State Agency Technical Operations are to be nominated by the Council of Ministers and elected by Parliament instead of being nominated by the Council of Ministers and appointed by presidential decree, as is the case now.