Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has said the country will hold early elections after leading parties refused a mandate to replace the last government, which resigned amid widespread protests.

The announcement on Friday came after the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms became the third party to reject the president’s invitation to form a government. Bulgaria has been racked by political instability for several years, with numerous governments proving unable to muster the support or unity necessary to survive.

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“We’re headed for elections,” President Rumen Radev said from the presidential palace in Sofia.

Three attempts at forming an administration are required under the constitution before a snap vote can be called.

Radev will now appoint a caretaker cabinet and set a date for the next election.

Bulgaria has held seven national elections in the past four years – most recently in October 2024 – amid deep political and social divisions.

The latest political crisis was set off when Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced the resignation of his cabinet on December 11, minutes before parliament had been due to vote on a no-confidence motion.

Zhelyazkov resigned after weeks of street protests against endemic state corruption and a planned 2026 budget that would have increased social security contributions and some taxes in a bid to plug state financing shortfalls.

His exit triggered a constitutional process which saw both the centre-right GERB-SDS and the second-largest parliamentary grouping, the reformist PP-DB, reject Radev’s invitation to set up a ruling coalition this week.

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Bulgaria, the poorest member of ‌the European Union, sorely needs political stability to speed up the intake of EU funds into its creaking infrastructure, encourage ‍foreign investment, and root out systemic corruption.

The country of about 6.4 million officially adopted the euro on January 1, becoming the 21st country to join the single currency nearly two decades after entering the bloc.

Successive Bulgarian governments have backed euro adoption, arguing it would strengthen the country’s fragile economy, anchor it more firmly within Western institutions and shield it from what officials describe as Russian influence.

Rolling demonstrations have underlined public frustration with corruption and the failure of successive governments to root it out.