site.btaGERB Leader Borissov: Ministers Who Did Not Make Enough Progress Will Be Replaced

Following the agreement between the parties of the ruling majority, an analysis of the work of each minister will be made and ministers who did not make enough progress in their work will be replaced, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said in Burgas on Tuesday, commenting on the upcoming rotation in government. In Burgas, Borissov visited a site where the construction of a children's hospital will begin in a few days.

Borissov said the analysis will be done by the ruling majority’s party leaders, as well as by Nikolay Denkov and Mariya Gabriel. In June 2023, Continue the Change (CC-DB) and GERB-UDF formed a regular government on a rotating basis. When the cabinet was formed, CC-DB and GERB-UDF agreed that Nikolay Denkov (CC-DB) and Mariya Gabriel (GERB-UDF) would rotate as prime minister and deputy prime minister over a nine-month period, starting with Denkov. Gabriel is expected to replace Denkov as Prime Minister in March.

According to Borissov, the most important thing is for the Regional Development and Public Works Ministry to start working at full speed because all municipal mayors have yet to submit documents, which need to be processed quickly to enable their municipalities to work. "A minister who is up to such tasks can stay working," Borissov said.

Commenting on Bulgaria's Schengen accession, the leader of GERB said that the government and the parliament should make a swift effort and show that Bulgaria's borders are reliably protected. In Borissov's words, a joint effort can be made so that in a few months Bulgaria may enter Schengen by land, as well.

"As much as some [people] do not like the [ruling] non-coalition, we have partially entered Schengen, we have [adopted a state] budget, constitutional reform, justice reform, the whole European community gives us green light. But we must double our efforts to get Bulgaria [into the Schengen area] by land, as well" Borissov added. He said that after several years in which Bulgaria had been stagnating in chaos, now, thanks to the non-coalition, all mayors and municipalities have been granted quite a bit of money, which became possible only because there is a functioning regular government.

"For all the critics of this non-coalition - we have seen what it was like during the [rule of the] caretaker governments, Parliament was missing. An absolute deadlock," Borissov argued.