Political life in Bulgaria is otherwise quite turbulent, but on Wednesday events unfolded at a speed that was remarkable even for the Balkan state: in the morning the former prime minister and current opposition leader Boyko Borissov appeared before the press and made a much-noticed announcement.

It concerned the Bulgarian veto (which dates back to Borisov's reign) against the start of EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia, with which Sofia had recently practically paralyzed the expansion policy of the European Union.

Borissov surprisingly announced that his party would vote in parliament to lift the veto if Prime Minister Kyrill Petkov called for such a vote.

European unity is more important, Borisov said.

Michael Martens

Correspondent for Southeast European countries based in Vienna.

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However, the same Borisov who chose such statesmanlike words had long known by then that the prime minister to whom he was addressing his request was only a head of government on call.

Borissov's party, Citizens for European Development in Bulgaria, was the driving force behind a vote of no confidence in the Petkov government, which was voted on in parliament on the same day, just a few hours later.

The result: Petkov's fall.

In the parliament, which has a total of 240 MPs, 124 voted in favor of the motion of no confidence in the early evening.

This means that the Petkov government, which was only formed last year, is history, which had been apparent for a few days.

This is worrying because the four-party coalition under Petkov's leadership could only be formed at the third attempt.

However, new elections in Bulgaria will not take place immediately.

The Bulgarian constitution provides for a total of three attempts to find a new majority in the current parliament.

Only if all three attempts fail will head of state Rumen Radew have to set up an interim government that will lead the country until new elections are held.

According to the current status of the polls, however, the fourth parliamentary election will not produce a significantly clearer majority either.

Also open is the question of what Petkov's fall means for Borissov's announcement that he would support the lifting of the Bulgarian veto against the start of EU accession talks with North Macedonia.

It cannot be ruled out that there will be a majority in Parliament for this in the short term, possibly as early as Thursday.

But nothing is reliable in Bulgaria at the moment, as the turbulent events on Wednesday showed.