UPDATE 1-Bulgaria's election winner Rumen Radev receives mandate to form government

Bulgaria's President Iliana Iotova ‌offered election ​winner Rumen Radev the mandate to form a new government as prime minister on ‌Thursday after his Progressive Bulgaria comfortably won a parliamentary election last month, the eighth in five years. The eurosceptic former fighter pilot's party won 44.6% ‌of the vote in the parliamentary election on April 19, giving ‌it a majority of seats in the 240-seat legislature.

Bulgaria's President Iliana Iotova ‌offered election ​winner Rumen Radev the mandate to form a new government as prime minister on ‌Thursday after his Progressive Bulgaria comfortably won a parliamentary election last month, the eighth in five years.

The eurosceptic former fighter pilot's party won 44.6% ‌of the vote in the parliamentary election on April 19, giving ‌it a majority of seats in the 240-seat legislature. After receiving the mandate, Radev outlined his future cabinet, which is expected to be approved by the parliament on Friday.

Radev ⁠stepped ​down from Bulgaria's ⁠largely ceremonial presidency in January to run in the April parliamentary election after mass ⁠protests over corruption and rising living costs forced out the previous government in ​December. PB's victory, the single biggest vote haul in a generation, will ⁠enable Radev to head Bulgaria's first single-party government in nearly three decades, a ⁠boost ​to political stability after repeated elections.

Velislava Petrova-Chamova and Galab Donev will take over as foreign and finance ministers in the new cabinet, ⁠which will have to swiftly pass a new budget, set a debt ⁠ceiling to ⁠ensure payments for pensions and salaries and recover missed EU funds.