Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

February 4, 1997 - one of the turning points in contemporary Bulgarian politics

PM Nikolai Dobrev (left) returns the mandate to President Petar Stoyanov (right)
Photo: Archive

Today marks 25 years since one of the most memorable dates in Bulgarian political life - February 4, 1997. Mass protests over the government's failure to cope with a number of crises forced Prime Minister Zhan Videnov to resign in late 1996. Power passed into the hands of President Zhelyo Zhelev a few days before handing over the post to his successor Petar Stoyanov. 

The parliamentary roulette urged BSP to regain a mandate to form a government. However, President Zhelev refused to hand it over to their candidate for prime minister, Nikolai Dobrev. This situation presented the next president with a difficult task. Stoyanov still fulfilled his obligation under the Constitution, but in his first address he appealed to the Socialists to return it unrealized. The BSP complied and Dobrev returned the mandate. 
The President appointed a caretaker government headed by Stefan Sofianski, which revealed the scale of the economic catastrophe, defended the national currency, agreed on the establishment of a Currency Board, and applied for Bulgaria's membership in NATO. And all this just a few months before the elections in April of that year, won by an absolute majority of the United Democratic Forces (SDS).



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

85 years since return of Southern Dobrudzha to Bulgaria celebrated in Silistra

The 85 th anniversary since Southern Dobrudzha returned within the bounds of Bulgaria will be celebrated with an official ceremony on 1 October in Silistra, the Bulgarian news agency BTA reports. Representatives of the local and central..

published on 10/1/25 7:30 AM

Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil meets with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Thessaloniki

Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Thessaloniki, the Bulgarian Patriarchate announced.  The two discussed the centuries-old spiritual ties between the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Orthodox..

published on 9/29/25 1:32 PM

September 22, 1908: Bulgaria breaks free from Ottoman rule

On September 22, 1908, Prince Ferdinand I proclaimed Bulgaria’s independence in a manifesto, formally establishing the Third Bulgarian Kingdom. The location was chosen with care: the Church of the Forty Martyrs in the old capital, Veliko Tarnovo,..

published on 9/22/25 6:05 AM