Bulgarian GERB party leader Boyko Borissov said on Wednesday he was listening to the demands of anti-government protesters but added that any discussion of cabinet resignations would take place only after Jan. 1, when Bulgaria is due to join the euro zone.
Borissov said the coalition government — made up of GERB, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and ITN, with support from the “DPS – New Principle” group — would not consider stepping down before the country formally adopts the single currency.
“I was taught to listen to every citizen. I see the people on the streets,” Borissov told reporters. “Parties may like each other or not, each has its own strategy, but over the years no one can deny that I have listened to the people.”
Borissov has previously resigned under pressure from street protests but refused to do so during unrest in 2020.
He said securing euro zone entry remained his government’s central objective. “We are 20 metres from the finish line — on Jan. 1 the euro enters. This is a geostrategic task and I want to see it through,” he said, adding that coalition partners had been informed and would remain united “not out of stubbornness, but until the country enters the euro zone.”
Borissov also defended the government’s record, citing Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area, approval of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, and an increase of more than 8 billion leva in revenue from customs and tax fraud prevention.
He said global conditions were extremely difficult. “The world is in a ‘perfect storm’. Never has the situation been so complicated. And in Bulgaria, parties that are part of the same European political families argue the most,” he said.