site.btaLeaders of Some Parliamentary Parties Meet Friday to Discuss Policy Priorities, Possible Government on Socialists' Mandate

The leaders of some parliamentary parties are meeting at 11:00 on Friday on the initiative of BSP for Bulgaria leader Korneliya Ninova to discuss the options for forming a government on the third mandate handed by the President to the Socialists. All political groups in Parliament were invited but those expected to attend are GERB-UDF, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), and Bulgarian Rise. 

Democratic Bulgaria said they would gladly go to bilateral meetings but not to a meeting where all leaders participate. Continue the Change said they are ready for a trilateral meeting with the Socialists and Democratic Bulgaria. Vazrazhdane believe such a meeting would be meaningless and declined the invitation.

On Wednesday, the National Council of BSP for Bulgaria gave a mandate to the leadership to hold talks on forming a government with all parliamentary formations. Korneliya Ninova announced the main topics on which she believes a consensus can be reached: the budget for 2023; Bulgaria's accession to Schengen; the laws that the legislature needs to pass to pave the way to the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the revision of its energy chapter; and judicial reform.