Bulgarian Finance Minister Handed Mandate To Form Government

Asen Vassilev now has seven days to try to end Bulgaria's latest political crisis.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on July 1 handed a mandate to form a new government to the country's finance minister, Asen Vassilev.

Outgoing Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, a pro-Western reformist who resigned earlier this week following a no-confidence vote, said earlier on July 1 that his centrist Continue the Change party (PP) party would nominate Vassilev to become the country's next prime minister.

Vassilev now has seven days to try to end Bulgaria's latest political crisis, which Radev warned is also economic and social.

“I expect adequate solutions and the defense of the national interest to build a free, democratic, and prosperous European Bulgaria,” he added.

Vassilev must submit his proposed cabinet for approval to Radev and would then face a confidence vote in parliament.

Vassilev said all are aware of the crises that Bulgaria has to face, adding that it will be important that the cabinet "works in the interest of the citizens, not in the interest of the status quo."

Vassilev was handed the mandate after the leftist Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), a partner in Petkov's coalition, ruled out backing him. The BSP, traditionally friendly toward Moscow, said they were angered by Petkov's decision to expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff for allegedly working against Sofia's interests.

Bulgaria’s outgoing prime minister, Kiril Petkov, has rejected a Russian ultimatum to reverse a decision to expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff, calling Moscow’s behavior “unacceptable.”

Petkov earlier on July 1 rejected a Russian ultimatum to reverse the expulsions, calling Moscow’s behavior “unacceptable.”

On June 30, Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova delivered a diplomatic note that included a threat to close the Russian Embassy unless Sofia reversed the expulsions by noon on July 1.

The embassy remained open despite the ultimatum, but Mitrofanova said she would ask Moscow to close it.

"I intend to immediately raise with the leadership of my country the issue of the closure of the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria, which will inevitably lead to the closure of the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Moscow," Mitrofanova wrote on Facebook.

Petkov said earlier that Russia's behavior was unacceptable.

"We will not allow Bulgaria to take a wrong turn.... We will not allow foreign diplomats to give ultimatums to the Bulgarian state [to comply with their demands] by noon," he said.

Earlier on July 1, the BSP called on parliament to vote to revoke the expulsions to save diplomatic ties with Moscow. The biggest opposition party, the center-right GERB, said it backed the expulsions.

With reporting by Reuters and AP