A newly formed protest party named PP narrowly won the elections in Bulgaria, ahead of the right wing GERB party. This means that after three elections, Boyko Borisov, the politician who signed the Friendship Treaty with Zaev in 2017 only to veto Macedonia’s EU accession talks in 2020, is very unlikely to make a come-back.

Coalition making will be difficult, but PP endorsed one of its leaders, Kiril Petkov, as Prime Minister, and its other leader Asen Vassilev as Finance Minister. They can try to team up with other protest parties such as Slavi Trifonov’s ITN and Democratic Bulgaria, and may require help from the Bulgarian Socialist Party of President Rumen Radev, who is on course for re-election.

Petkov is seen as more moderate toward the dispute with Macedonia. In his first remarks after the election Petkov said that Macedonia will have to cooperate in the joint committee of historians, and in changing history books, if it wants Bulgaria to lift its veto.