Bulgaria's Opposition Targets Government with No-Confidence Motion

 “We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria” (WCC-DB) confirmed that on Friday the coalition will introduce a vote of no confidence against the government, arguing that its economic policy has failed. Coalition representatives Nikolai Denkov and Bozhidar Bozhanov announced the move, describing the cabinet’s economic decisions as the main reason why large groups of citizens have taken to the streets in recent weeks.

Bozhidar Bozhanov said the planned vote focuses entirely on economic governance, which he described as misguided and harmful to businesses, to the middle-class workforce and to broader economic development. According to him, the latest budget was only the final trigger in a longer sequence of decisions that increased administrative pressure and created widespread dissatisfaction. Denkov added that the cabinet’s handling of the Interior Ministry’s actions during the protests also contributed to the coalition’s decision, noting that neither the ministry’s leadership nor the government had expressed remorse or acknowledged mistakes regarding the detained youths.

Denkov argued that recent public statements by current Interior Minister Daniel Mitov and his predecessor, Kalin Stoyanov, portrayed protesters as the reason for any clashes, while presenting the police as responsible for the calm moments. He insisted that the exact opposite was evident: the demonstrations themselves remained peaceful, and disturbances occurred only afterward, caused by provocateurs. He stressed that the protest’s scale, around 100,000 people, made it impossible for organizers to maintain full control. According to the coalition, the Interior Ministry had been notified in advance that the turnout would be larger than anticipated and that protesters might not remain in one place, making the ministry fully responsible for overseeing security and watching for provocations.

Bozhanov criticized statements by the minister and the Sofia police leadership claiming that stewards should have identified provocateurs in a crowd of that size. He warned that had all 100,000 participants stayed packed together in the square, any attempt at provocation could have resulted in far more serious incidents.

From “Yes, Bulgaria” (part of WCC-DB), Ivaylo Mirchev delivered a sharp critique of Delyan Peevski, stating that he could “see fear” in Peevski’s expression both during the events of the previous day and during the signing of the constitution. Mirchev recounted a previous case in which he discovered over 100 unused APCs belonging to the Interior Ministry and proposed sending them to Ukraine. After Bulgaria later secured hundreds of millions in return from a NATO partner, Peevski, Mirchev claimed, hurried to support the initiative in hopes of distancing himself from the Magnitsky sanctions. According to Mirchev, Peevski even sent an MP acting as his personal assistant to co-sign the proposal in parliament.

Mirchev said Peevski underwent a dramatic shift in his public stance on Ukraine nearly a year ago, motivated by personal interest. He mocked Peevski’s recent attempts to promote messages “against hate,” noting that when Peevski encountered him outside his office, he seemed to want to say “no to fear” instead. Mirchev also rejected claims that the protests contained ethnic hostility, insisting that the only slogans heard were directed at Peevski, Bayram Bayram, Yordan Tsonev and what he described as Peevski’s political circle. He distributed printed declarations from regional DPS-New Beginning structures, highlighting their identical wording and even identical typographical errors, which he said exposed the artificiality of Peevski’s political messaging.

According to Mirchev, the government’s support structure is “hollow” and lacks any genuine public backing, which is why people are protesting. He again insisted that Peevski’s National Security Officers should be lifted, arguing that it had been granted on the basis of a fabricated alert suggesting a Russian GRU team planned to target him because of supposed assistance to Ukraine. Mirchev called this story absurd, asserting that Peevski has not been involved in issues related to Ukraine for a long time. Removing the security, he said, would reveal “his real frightened look.”

Meanwhile, the "Morality, Unity, Honor" (MECH) party announced that it will back the no-confidence vote prepared by WCC-DB. MECH’s leader Radostin Vassilev emphasized that the vote will not address the government’s overall political line, but rather its specific economic conduct. He also commented on Interior Minister Daniel Mitov’s hearing in parliament, accusing him of shifting all responsibility for the unrest onto protesters, organizers, the mayor of Sofia and the opposition. Vassilev described Mitov as the most inadequate minister Bulgaria has seen in years, stating that his position is sustained solely through Peevski’s backing. According to Vassilev, the minister either lacks the necessary knowledge, refuses to answer straightforward questions or acts in a way that protects organized criminal groups.

Further reading: More Than a Budget Crisis: Bulgaria's Gen-Z Demands a Political Reckoning