BULGARIAN PRESIDENT SAYS TO RESIGN AHEAD OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

SOFIA, Jan  20 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Bulgarian President Rumen Radev announced on Monday that he will submit his resignation on Tuesday, paving the way for his eligible participation in the country's upcoming snap parliamentary elections, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Tomorrow, I will submit my resignation from the post of President of the Republic of Bulgaria," Radev said in an address to the Bulgarian people.

Indicating that he will participate in the early parliamentary elections, Radev said: "We have a battle ahead for the future of the fatherland and I believe that we will fight it together with all of you -- the worthy, the inspired, and the uncompromising. We are ready, we can, and we will succeed."

According to the Bulgarian Constitution, the resignation of the president has to be approved by the Constitutional Court.

Radev, born on June 18, 1963, had one year left in his second five-year term as president. The vice president shall assume the office of the president.

The third and final attempt to form a new government within the current legislature failed on Friday.

According to the Bulgarian Constitution, after a third failure, the president, following consultations with parliamentary groups, is required to appoint a caretaker prime minister and government, and to schedule new elections within two months.

Radev, a former jet fighter pilot, was first elected president in November 2016 and won re-election in November 2021.

In his speech, Radev said that during his nine years as president, Bulgaria had completed its European integration, joining Schengen and the eurozone.

However, he argued that these achievements had not brought stability or public satisfaction, noting declining voter turnout, low trust in the media and the justice system, and widespread insecurity and poverty.

--BERNAMA-XINHUA