Union Democratic Forces (UDF) leader Plamen Yuroukov told private broadcaster bTV that the accusations of European Union funds embezzlement levelled at him by his political opponents did not worry him. “These are patched-up lies,” he said. “Who comes up with these lies I don’t know and I don’t care,” Yuroukov said, emphasising that he was focused on his party work. “The party has calmed down.”

“According to the content of the report of [European anti-fraud office] OLAF, the President [Georgi Purvanov] cannot be unifier of the nation. That is why we call on the other parties to join our impeachment launching procedure.”

In the morning talk show of Nova Television, several politicians were invited to talk about the possibility of a political crisis in the country after the European Commission published its interim report on Bulgaria. Kuncho Filipov, leader of the recently established party Leader, said that he would not call on the people to go in the streets to protest because he thought that “the country needs stability and a transparent government”.

Former UDF leader and current MP Nadezhda Mihailova said that “people are terrified because no one wanted to take political responsibility”.

Socialist MP Georgi Bliznashki, however, pointed out that no other party was ready to step in. “The ruling coalition doesn’t have an alternative […] The rightist parties were not united enough,” he said.