Bulgaria’s Parliament gives final approval to cutting state subsidies for political parties
Bulgaria’s National Assembly approved on July 4 the second reading of amendments to the 2019 Budget Act that cut the state subsidies for political parties and coalitions that got more than one per cent of the vote at the most recent election from 11 leva (about 5.5 euro) to one lev.
This was the latest development in a saga that earlier saw a postponement of the second-reading vote to allow for consultations among the parties.
The amendments will affect the third and fourth tranches of the state subsidies in the remainder of 2019. The law that the amount of the subsidy will be decided in the annual national Budget remains unchanged.
The question of whether businesses and private individuals will be allowed to fund political parties remains open, and is likely to be addressed only when amendments to Bulgaria’s Political Parties Act are debated in the autumn.
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