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

147 years since the liberation of Sofia

The fighting for Sofia within the framework of the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) began on December 25, 1877. On January 3, 1878, the city's commandant Osman Nuri Pasha began to withdraw from Sofia.  His plans to set the city on fire were thwarted..

published on 1/4/25 6:30 AM

Regional History Museum - Sofia presents video stories of iconic buildings

In its latest digital section “Buildings Tell a Story”, the Regional History Museum – Sofia presents the stories of iconic buildings in the center of the Bulgarian capital city, as well as of the people who once lived in them. The video initiative..

published on 12/28/24 7:20 AM
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary cathedral in Sofia, part of the Bulgarian Orthodox Old Calendar Church

Supreme Court of Cassation rules that the Bulgarian Orthodox Old Calendar Church must be registered

T he Supreme Court of Cassation has given final judgement that the Bulgarian Orthodox Old Calendar Church must be registered in the register of religious denominations. This isthe first time a second Orthodox church will be registered, the..

published on 12/27/24 9:32 AM