Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov said that the hard right nationalist United Patriots - the junior partner of Bulgaria's Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) – will most likely not survive until the next election due to internal tensions, daily Dnevnik reported on February 19.
The United Patriots came to power for the first time in 2017, in coalition with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s Gerb, prompting fears of a shift to the far right by Bulgaria’s populist prime minister. If the patriots collapse, this would put pressure on the government, but the chances of a change of government are not that high as Borissov has another potential ally in the parliament, the Volya party. The ethnic-Turk Movement for Rights and Freedom (DPS) also is backing the government unofficially.
Simeonov is the leader of the National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB), which makes up the United Patriots along with the Bulgarian National Movement (VMRO) and Ataka.
Earlier in February, Simeonov admitted that the United Patriots are unstable as the three parties are having disagreements. Now he said that most likely his party will refuse to stay in coalition with VMRO for the next election and accused the leader of VMRO Aleksandar Karakachanov of causing the tensions.
“[T]here are accumulated tensions, which I don’t know why the colleage Karakachanov does not want to solve,” Dnevnik quoted Simeonov as saying.
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