Bulgarian voters are called to the polls again on April 2 for the fifth parliamentary election in two years after repeated failures to form a ruling coalition, writes DPA, cited by Agerpres.

President Rumen Radev signed a decree on Thursday on setting elections for April 2, his press service reported.

At the same time, the parliament was dissolved, the president of the National Assembly, Vezhdi Rashidov, announced the end of his mandate.

The current affairs of the country will be managed by a transitional cabinet.

Three attempts to form a government have failed since the previous election in October, which resulted in seven parties in parliament.

None of the three attempts, which were successively led by GERB (center-right), PP (liberal) and socialist parties, could gather a majority.

“It was a parliament with limited capabilities,” Andriy Gyurov, head of the PP, the party that led the last government, said on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, President Radev confirmed that the executive power, appointed last August, will act according to the same formula, with the exception of the new Minister of Culture.

Radev repeatedly warned that holding new elections would jeopardize Bulgaria’s bid to join the Schengen zone, as well as the implementation of the Program for National Recovery and Resilience (PNRR), approved and financed by the European Union.

Bulgaria’s goal of joining the eurozone in 2024 is also considered to be in jeopardy.