The adoption of amendments to the Law on the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), crucial for Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone, was unexpectedly blocked in parliament as the ruling GERB party withheld its support. These changes, introduced by Dimitar Glavchev’s caretaker government, aimed to align the BNB leadership’s responsibilities with constitutional reforms from 2023, which allowed central bank officials to assume government roles such as Prime Minister. The amendments would have required the BNB governor and deputies to resign if they accepted such positions.
During the vote, only 33 MPs from “We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria” (WCC-DB) backed the bill. Opposition parties, including “Revival”, “DPS-New Beginning” (DPS-Peevski) and “BSP-United Left”, as well as several GERB MPs, voted against, while most GERB MPs, along with those from “Democracy, Rights and Freedoms” (DPS-Dogan) and “There Is Such a People” (TISP), abstained.
Debates on the bill descended into contentious exchanges. Martin Dimitrov from DB accused GERB of avoiding accountability and aligning with Revival to block the legislation. Revival’s Tsoncho Ganev retorted by calling WCC-DB a “Dogan mat” and accusing them of siding with GERB. A heated dispute also erupted between Revival and BSP representatives after Atanas Atanasov from the left criticized Revival for exploiting public fears with “cheap populism”. Revival leader Kostadin Kostadinov fired back, claiming BSP would fail to enter the next parliament as its members would defect to Revival. Atanasov dismissed Kostadinov’s remarks as desperate attempts for legitimacy.
Yavor Bozhankov of WCC-DB also targeted Revival, accusing them of hypocrisy for benefiting from European funding while opposing the Eurozone. Revival MP Stoyan Taslakov responded by dismissing Bozhankov as an opportunistic figure appointed to attack Revival.
Despite the fiery debates, the bill failed at its first reading. Following the vote, Ivaylo Mirchev of DB expressed frustration, noting GERB’s unexplained opposition to the amendments required by the European Central Bank and outlined in the convergence report. He warned that rejecting the law jeopardized Bulgaria’s path to eurozone membership. (Novinite)