The Green Party, established in 1989, and political party Green Bulgaria, set up in 2007, merged into one party on July 5, choosing Green Party/Bulgarian Greens (GPBG) as their new name.

Stoyan Dikov, erstwhile leader of Green Bulgaria, was elected the chairperson of the national political council of the party, while long-time Green Party chairperson Alexander Karakachanov was elected chairperson of the national executive council of the new party.

GPBG said that the party would be in opposition to the current Cabinet, whose policies contradict “the global norms in the field of the environment”. The new party will strive to consolidate the "green" movement in the country and plans to propose specific political measures for the current environmental problems and the other public areas, GPBG chief secretary Ilian Mateev said in a statement on the party's website.

The fledgling party's intention to become a focus for the green movement, however, is likely to meet with opposition from Zelenite/Bulgarian Greens political party, formed in 2008, which plans to rebuff any overtures in that sense.

Zelenite/Bulgarian Greens co-chairperson Petko Kovachev told The Sofia Echo that his party saw the new entity as an attempt to disguise economic interests with an environmental agenda, describing the Green Party as an offshoot of the Bulgarian Communist Party and Green Bulgaria as a party backed by big business.

GPBG plans to take part in the coming parliamentary elections in 2009 with candidates in the entire country.