Bulgaria parliament approves pro-European government, ending deadlock / Photo: Nikolay DOYCHINOV - AFP
-
West must embrace 'national power' or face decline: Rubio
-
Kyiv 'cannot agree' to EU membership limiting food exports: minister
-
Shell refining margins reach record highs as wars hit supply
-
Arteta targets more Arsenal glory after signing new deal until 2030
-
Former Spain, Barca winger Pedro retires from football
-
Russell hit with Singapore grid penalty for taking new power unit
-
Arteta signs new Arsenal deal until 2030
-
Spotify expands audiobooks to more than 180 markets
-
Stocks decline as oil climbs on Mideast flareup
-
French-Japanese duo wins chemistry Nobel for solving molecular 'mystery'
-
Gauff says online abuse was 'draining' after China Open exit
-
England's Nations League surge helps heal World Cup wounds
-
As sector struggles, Porsche puts luxury ahead of volume
-
Mayor of opposition stronghold Izmir defects to Erdogan party
-
'It's personal': Fiji minister pushes better climate finance at pre-COP
-
Mertens beats Gauff to set up Swiatek clash at China Open
-
Russia glosses over dark Soviet past in reinvented museum
-
Benin full of pride at role in Messi's last dance
-
UK tax body opened probe into Man City in 2018: FT
-
France suspends stun grenade use at student protests ahead of PM speech
-
Yemen's Houthis claim new attacks on Saudi airports as conflict deepens
-
Indonesian court hears 'negligence' complaint against state over fires, haze
-
Germany factory production at highest level for 18 months
-
Rubio in Greece to urge against Western civilisation 'decline'
-
Thailand floods death toll rises to 60 since mid-September
-
Micron workers at Taiwan plant vote in favour of strike
-
US pushes Russia for information on plague reports
-
In 'The Social Reckoning,' Jeremy Allen White takes on Facebook's 'frightening' ambition
-
Myanmar leader lands in Malaysia for migrant return talks
-
Chip industry activists call for South Korea to recognise cancer cases
-
Indian central bank hikes rates for first time since 2023
-
Famine-scarred southern Madagascar braces for El Nino
-
US military on Okinawa face curfew, alcohol ban after murder case
-
How the EU regulates lobbyists
-
Fierce lobbying in EU over 'forever chemicals'
-
I.Coast refuge offers lifelong care for youngsters scorned as 'sorcerers'
-
Dodgers beat Braves and Padres avoid sweep in MLB playoffs
-
Indian central bank hikes rates for first time in more than 3 years
-
Mourning, war and elections as Israel marks October 7
-
Hotel Blacklist Launches New Accommodation Industry Risk Assessment Tool
-
Messi says Argentina retirement is 'saddest day of my career'
-
Bangladesh nuclear plant draws hope -- and worry
-
Oil rises and stocks fall as Hormuz worries flare
-
US beat Canada 1-0 to wrap up four-win international break
-
Pacific presses world for help 'surviving' climate change at pre-COP summit
-
Turkey, Australia's joint COP31 leadership raises doubts
-
Verstappen revival to be put to the test in steamy Singapore
-
For Turkish NGOs, COP31 offers rare space for action
-
US woman who survived botched execution is conscious, speaking: lawyers
-
Sleep, appetite, gene-editing experts contend for Nobel chemistry prize
Bulgaria parliament approves pro-European government, ending deadlock
Bulgarian lawmakers on Tuesday approved a new pro-European government put forward by We Continue the Change (PP) and the centre-right GERB party, ending a two-year-long impasse marked by five elections.
The new technocrat cabinet was elected without difficulty by Bulgaria's 240-seat National Assembly, securing a majority of 132 votes.
Former education minister and researcher Nikolay Denkov of the PP-DB coalition will govern as prime minister for nine months, before EU ex-commissioner for innovation Mariya Gabriel will take over as part of a rotation.
The graft-ridden Balkan nation has been struggling to elect a new government to implement badly needed reforms.
In May, Gabriel -- tasked by the conservative GERB party to lead negotiations -- alongside the PP-DB coalition announced a power-sharing government with rotating prime ministers.
Forty-four-year Gabriel, who recently resigned from her post in Brussels, will hold the Foreign Affairs portfolio under the leadership of 60-year-old Denkov, before taking over as prime minister in March 2024.
The European Union's poorest country has been plagued by political instability and led by caretaker governments over the past two years.
A fifth vote in early April failed again to provide a clear majority.
Bulgaria has never before had a rotating premiership but the compromise was the only remaining option for a cabinet.
The new government's priorities include the urgent passing of a budget, reforming the country's justice system, and making progress on accession to the eurozone and Schengen area.
Weakened by the turmoil, Bulgaria was forced to abandon its bid to join the eurozone in 2024 and was unable to accede to the Schengen free movement zone.
The cabinet will also usher in a new pro-European stance within the eastern European country amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
Under the leadership of pro-Russian President Rumen Radev, the country's interim governments have refused to send direct military aid to Kyiv.
The GERB party of three-time PM Boyko Borisov had governed almost uninterruptedly between 2009 and April 2021.
But it lost many voters and became badly isolated by other parties after massive anti-corruption protests against it in 2020.
R.Shaban--SF-PST