Borissov says he insisted on resignation of Bulgarian government

Boiko Borissov said on December 11 that he had insisted on that day’s resignation of the government so that his GERB party “would not be wiped out”.

Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov tabled the resignation of his government on December 11, about 11 months after it took office, following mass protests in Bulgaria and abroad demanding its resignation.

Borissov said that no other government would be formed in the current National Assembly.

“There will be no reformatting. Their charlatan tricks will not work. No one will climb on my back anymore,” he said, by “charlatan” apparently referring to opposition coalition We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, which has led the recent protests against the ruling majority.

Borissov said that Parliament’s vote to accept the resignation of the government would be the first item on the Order Paper for the December 12 sitting.

“No Budget will be considered by us,” he said.

Parliament had been meant to vote on December 11 and 12 on the first reading of the revised Budget for 2026. The proposed Budget was revised in response to a mass protest on December 1.

“Let Vassilev and company bear responsibility,” Borissov said, referring to former finance minister Assen Vassilev, co-leader of WCC-DB.

According to Borissov, Zhelyazkov’s speech announcing the government’s resignation had been “brilliant” and the Prime Minister had made clear that “during these 11 months there was not a single thing to be ashamed of”.

Vassilev told reporters: “I want to thank all the citizens who told this government that Bulgaria cannot be governed in this way. This is a victory for all Bulgarian citizens. This is the first step on the path to Bulgaria becoming a normal European country.

“The more difficult task lies ahead – for Bulgaria to become a country that works for all Bulgarian citizens, and not just for one, who would make a country with a capital ‘D,” he said, referring to Delyan Peevski, the Magnitsky Act-sanctioned leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, a core target in the protests against the ruling majority.

“The civic energy, the young people managed to stop this plan for the country with a capital D. Now we are about to build the country with a capital ‘B’, which is better for everyone,” Vassilev said.

Ivailo Mirchev, co-leader of Yes Bulgaria – part of WCC-DB – said: “In this National Assembly, we will not participate in any reconfiguration. Bulgaria must go to elections, these elections must be held according to clear and fair rules, the Ministry of the Interior must work adequately”.