Bulgaria starts push for government with no clear path in sight

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s party will get a mandate on May 15 to try to form a cabinet in a bid to resolve a political stalemate.

Borissov, who ran the country on and off for over a decade, won Bulgaria’s fifth vote in two years last month, Bloomberg reports.

But his razor-thin victory didn’t guarantee him a majority, and his main rival — former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov — has said he won’t back a cabinet led by Gerb.

The turmoil has brought political uncertainty in the country, weighing on its budget and hindering plans to join the European Union’s passport-free Schengen zone and the euro area next year.

The stalemate has also given unusual power in the hands of Radev — an air force general often accused of taking pro-Russian stances.

He has repeatedly refused to provide military support to Ukraine, which lies less than 200 miles away across the Black Sea. While the president’s post is largely ceremonial, his interim cabinets have run the country for most of the last two years.

Borissov will have a week after May 15 to find support for a cabinet. He is holding talks with all political parties, urging them to support a government to deepen Bulgaria’s euro-Atlantic integration and to show solidarity with Ukraine.

If he fails, Petkov’s We Continue the Change will receive a mandate, although it also doesn’t have support for a majority coalition.

A third attempt will go to a party of the president’s choice. If all three attempts fail to create a government, another snap vote must be called.