site.btaUPDATED GERB-UDF, President Radev Hold Consultations on Forming Government

The first consultation at President Radev's office were attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel and the deputy floor leaders of GERB-UDF Denitsa Sacheva, Raya Nazaryan, and Temenuzhka Petkova.

Over the weekend, GERB-UDF and Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) held a series of talks on an agreement for joint governance. The outcome of these is not known as there was no press statement on either day.

Public communication between the parties seemed to revive the spectre of early parliamentary elections, even though the changes in the Council of Ministers were planned, said President Radev at the beginning of the meeting.

The head of State stressed that an important issue is the complicated relations between the partners in the coalition. He asked the representatives of GERB-UDF whether they believe that all contradictions will be overcome in the foreseeable future and how they assess the pace of the negotiations with the partners from CC-DB, as well as whether they are ready for the handing over of the mandate or need more time. 

Do you consider the mandate unfulfilled in case of a possible failure of these negotiations or do you have other options - seeking another parliamentary majority, looking for other partners to govern or repeating the decision you took nine months ago - participating in a government with another mandate, Radev further asked. 

He expressed hope for a constructive and good dialogue.

We need stability, but it must be based on principle, Mariya Gabriel said.

"From the very beginning it is very important for me to have a dialogue, to say the good and the critical things," she said, stressing that it was important not to lose sight of the country's interests.

We need stability, but it must be based on fundamental values, on a principled basis, Gabriel said. It is important for us to highlight commonalities, but also to reach agreement and to look for ways to overcome differences where they exist, she added.