Bulgaria government rotation fails, new vote possible

Bulgaria's two largest political parties have failed to reach agreement on a new power-sharing cabinet, opening the way for possible snap elections in the European Union country with a history of political instability.

Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, 61, from the liberal PP-DB party resigned this month ahead of a planned rotation with Bulgaria's former EU commissioner for innovation Mariya Gabriel from the centre-right GERB party.

But negotiations between the two partners stumbled on Tuesday over the share-out of posts in the new government.

Gabriel, 44, insisted on keeping her current foreign affairs portfolio along with the premiership and the GERB also demanded the key defence and energy ministries. Denkov said this was "unacceptable".

Despite the troubles, Gabriel proposed a cabinet with more than half of the ministerial posts going to the PP-DB while the GERB got defence and energy.

Gabriel said the time was not right for elections. But the PP-DB said it had not agreed the cabinet list.

Denkov was proposed as vice premier for European Affairs. He along with the proposed ministers of finance and justice released statements saying that they had withdrawn their nominations.

Parliament is expected to vote on the cabinet list in coming days but experts said it would fail. President Rumen Radev would then ask the PP-DB and a third party to form a cabinet but snap elections seem probable.

The new government crisis comes just nine months after Bulgaria ended a two-year impasse marked by five elections. Denkov formed a compromise cabinet last June.

Bulgaria took a clear pro-European turn, particularly with regard to the war in Ukraine in an EU and NATO country that has remained divided over its historical links to Russia.

Previous caretaker governments refused to send military aid to Ukraine, but the new administration sent munitions, missiles and armoured carriers to Kiev.

The government started judicial reforms in a bid to increase the independence of prosecutors in their fight against endemic corruption.

It has also started measures to be able to join the EU's visa-free Schengen zone.

Analysts warned however that the new crisis would likely scupper these hopes and jeopardise the Balkan country's bid to adopt the euro currency in 2025.