Borissov’s parting gift: embarrassing Bulgaria in the EU by aligning with Trump’s Board of Peace

Bulgaria will have a representative at the first meeting of the so-called Board of Peace, a controversial initiative launched by U.S. President Donald Trump, despite mounting questions over the timing, transparency and political implications of the decision taken by a government already on its way out.

Outgoing Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov confirmed on Friday that Bulgaria would take part in the inaugural meeting of the body, set for 19 February in the United States. By then, however, Bulgaria’s political landscape is expected to have changed significantly. Commentators see it as an end of a long era dominated by Boyko Borissov, either in Prime Minister capacity or as leader of the largest party in Parliament, GERB.

The move is notable not only because it was taken by a cabinet that has already resigned following mass anticorruption protests, but also because the government never submitted the Board of Peace statute to parliament for ratification. Instead, it acted in its final days, ensuring that Bulgaria would be politically tied to the initiative just as a caretaker government prepares to take over.

Earlier this week, President Iliana Iotova selected Bulgarian National Bank deputy governor Andrey Gyurov as caretaker prime minister, giving him one week to propose a cabinet. On 19 February, Iotova is expected to issue a decree appointing the caretaker government. The new cabinet will then be sworn in before the National Assembly, which will continue to function until early elections are held.

In other words, the “changing of the guard” in Sofia will take place simultaneously with the Board of Peace meeting, meaning Bulgaria’s participation will be politically owned by an outgoing cabinet but institutionally inherited by an interim one.

A decision taken in secrecy

Only days ago, the government publicly acknowledged that its decision to join the Board of Peace had initially been classified “for official use only”. The document, published by the Council of Ministers with its classification removed, shows that the restriction was lifted on the grounds that the reasons for protection had “ceased to exist” – without clarifying what those reasons were in the first place.

The decision itself was adopted on 21 January, one day before Zhelyazkov made a surprise appearance in Davos to sign the document.

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It consists of three points: approving the Board of Peace statute as a basis for negotiations; authorising the prime minister to sign it subject to subsequent ratification; and instructing the prime minister to notify the United States that Bulgaria would not apply the statute provisionally.

“Transparency is not about removing a classification once you’ve been caught,” commented Bulgarian Helsinki Committee lawyer Adela Kachaunova on Facebook. “Transparency is about not classifying something at all when there is no legal basis.”

“This is not a military secret. It is not a financial secret. It is not about diplomatic negotiations,” she said, adding that the only “sensitive” element was the political substance itself.

According to Kachaunova, the most serious issue is that the Board of Peace Chart is a ready-made external text, offered without room for amendments, multilateral negotiation or a conventional international legal framework. Either the government knew the document was politically risky and chose silence, she argued, or it did not fully understand what it was signing and hoped the issue would go unnoticed. “Both are institutionally unacceptable,” she wrote on Facebook.

Official justification – and unanswered questions

In a lengthy explanatory statement, the Council of Ministers said the decision had a clear political character and was adopted unanimously at an in-person cabinet meeting. It argued that Bulgaria’s participation reflected concern over the long-term impact of the Middle East conflict on regional and European security, including irregular migration flows.

The government framed accession to the Board of Peace as a political signal of Bulgaria’s willingness to contribute to international efforts aimed at de-escalation and a sustainable settlement. It said Sofia supports the second phase of the U.S. peace plan for Gaza, as well as UN Security Council Resolution 2803 of November 2025, which welcomed the creation of the Board as a transitional administration coordinating Gaza’s reconstruction.

However, the Chart itself shows that the Board of Peace is not limited to the Middle East and is an organisation tightly controlled by the U.S. president.

The cabinet stressed that signing the Chart creates no obligation for Bulgaria to participate in specific operations, grants no jurisdiction over Bulgarian territory and will not apply before ratification. Until then, Bulgaria would have only consultative status.

Yet for days, the government avoided answering whether Bulgaria would in fact be represented at the upcoming meeting.

An EU headache

The political pressure to involve Bulgaria came from sanctioned politician Delyan Peevski, who publicly urged then president Rumen Radev to join Trump’s initiative. Radev days later announced his resignation to enter party politics.

The initiative’s optics have already raised eyebrows in Brussels. Trump unveiled the Board’s composition in Davos, notably excluding leaders from Western Europe, after launching a verbal attack on Danish sovereignty and inviting Russian leaders Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko to participate.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the European Commission declined to confirm whether Commission President Ursula von der Leyen would attend the 19 February meeting, or whether the Commission would be represented at all. The spokesperson confirmed an invitation had been received, but said questions remained over the Board’s mandate, governance and compatibility with the UN Charter.

The EU, the spokesperson said, is ready to work with the United States on implementing a Gaza peace plan in line with UN decisions – but alignment with Trump’s Board of Peace is far from settled.

For Bulgaria, the damage may already be done. By committing to the initiative at the very end of its mandate, Zhelyazkov’s cabinet has ensured that its final act will reverberate well beyond Sofia – and not necessarily to Bulgaria’s advantage inside the EU.

Bulgaria’s alignment with Trump’s Board of Peace triggers constitutional and political backlash

Caption: Outgoing Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov speaks to reporters in Munich, where he is attending the annual Munich Security Conference alongside nearly 50 heads of state and government. February 13, 2025. [Council of Ministers]