site.btaCC-DB’s Atanas Atanassov Urges PM, Finance Minister to Withdraw 2026 State Budget Bill

Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) MP and Democratic Bulgaria Co-Chair Atanas Atanassov called on Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova to withdraw the 2026 State Budget Bill today, on Thursday. Atanassov spoke to reporters in Parliament’s lobby on Thursday morning.

He said the draft budget must be withdrawn and revised, with the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation brought into the process, all accounts reviewed, and spending on what he described as “slush funds” cut.

Atanassov also commented on the procedure for appointing a new chair of the State Agency for National Security (SANS). He recalled that in 2013, when the current MRF – New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski was elected to head the agency, citizens again expressed strong disapproval. “Now, amid all the tension, they are quietly trying to make Denyo Denev the next SANS chair,” Atanassov said, urging the government to stop the procedure and withdraw Denev’s nomination.

CC-DB MP Yavor Bozhankov added that the European Commission has also signalled that the draft budget exceeds acceptable limits. “If anyone is jeopardizing Bulgaria’s path to the eurozone, it is the government, which is risking the first Bulgarian budget to be drafted in euros,” he said, adding that the authorities are showing “arrogant behaviour” toward businesses and protesting citizens.

On Wednesday evening, thousands of people filled streets in downtown Sofia and the square known as the “Power Triangle”, where the new National Assembly building is flanked by the Presidency and the Council of Ministers, to protest the adoption of the 2026 budget bills.