Bulgaria Socialists get mandate to form government

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev gave the Socialist Party a mandate to form a new government on Monday in a last attempt to avoid the country’s fifth general election in two years. Although the chances of the Socialists' success are dim, its leader Kornelia Ninova said her party had shown it could work responsibly towards Bulgaria's "national interest".

The move comes after the two main groups in parliament – the center-right GERB party and the reformist We Continue the Change party –failed to find enough support for a coalition to end the European Union and NATO member’s latest political crisis.