Hundreds protest against parliament speaker's dismissal in Bulgaria

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) – Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Bulgarian parliament on Friday to protest the removal of Nikola Minchev, who was dismissed as speaker in a no-confidence vote a day earlier.

Minchev faced heavy criticism and calls to resign from members of opposition parties after leading Wednesday’s parliament session where policies related to North Macedonia were discussed.

In late 2020, Bulgaria refused to approve the EU’s negotiation framework for North Macedonia, saying it could not support the start of the bloc’s long-delayed accession negotiations with Skopje because of disputes over history and language.

A no-confidence motion filed by the There Is Such A People (ITN) party, which withdrew from the government coalition last week, was passed by with the 240-member parliament on Thursday, with 125 votes in favor, 113 against and one abstention.

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and members of the ruling coalition attended Friday’s parliament session.

Petkov vowed to make Bulgaria “a normal and European country,” asserting that “we will not hand over the state to the mafia.”

The opposition also filed a no-confidence motion against Petkov’s government on Wednesday, with voting set to take place in seven days.