Bulgaria parties agree to form coalition govt in bid to end deadlock

FILE PHOTO: Then European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel attends a news conference on the launch of the European Commission's expert group on tackling disinformation and promoting digital literacy, in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Pool

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's two largest political parties, the centre-right GERB and a pro-Western bloc led by "We continue to change", agreed on Monday to form a coalition government with a rotating prime minister in a bid to end more than two years of policy deadlock.

The uncertainty forced EU-member Bulgaria to delay its target date for adopting the euro and it has yet to approve a budget bill for 2023. It also hampered Bulgaria's ability to harness EU post-pandemic recovery funds.