Political parties await Rumen Radev on the political arena

President Rumen Radev’s decision to step down as head of state several months before the end of his second term immediately sparked political reactions.

• President Rumen Radev announces that he is stepping down

“Rumen Radev becomes a participant in the political arena starting tomorrow, so the political competitions among all of us will begin, and we will see how they unfold,” said MP Nadezhda Yordanova from We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB), as quoted by BTA.

“I welcome Mr. Rumen Radev to the political arena in Bulgaria”, There Is Such a People leader Slavi Trifonov wrote on Facebook just minutes after President Radev announced his resignation. “I will continue to defend traditional Bulgarian values, I will continue to defend Bulgarians in North Macedonia, and I will continue to believe that illegal migrants have no place in the country”, Slavi Trifonov added.

“What everyone has been expecting for at least a year has happened — Radev has resigned as president and will participate in the early parliamentary elections. Yes, Radev has the potential to stir the stagnant political swamp”, said Boris Bonev, leader of Save Sofia, minutes after Rumen Radev announced his resignation as president.

Rumen Radev’s entry into the political arena has long been discussed as the only possible way to change the status quo after a series of early elections in recent years.

Shortly before the president’s extraordinary address, GERB leader Boyko Borissov told the newspaper Capital that Rumen Radev is acting like a party leader. Still, he said he has “more faith in Radev than in We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB),” even though he is certain that the president was part of the coalition that brought down his government. Borissov neither ruled out nor committed to the possibility of working with Radev on key issues, including judicial reform, in the next parliament.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov