EditBulgaria’s “We Continue the Change” joins ALDE amid domestic scandal
Ironically, Bulgaria’s centrist reformist pro-European party joins the liberal family when it is loosing Voters' support
Bulgaria’s centrist reformist pro-European party We Continue the Change (PP) was officially admitted as a full member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) during the party’s congress in Helsinki on Sunday, 28 June. With the admission of PP, ALDE now comprises 73 member parties from 41 countries, 24 of them EU member states.
Founded in 2021, We Continue the Change has since tried to join the European liberal political family, the efforts having started when this force was emerging first at elections (November 2021). Ironically it joins ALDE at a time when its ratings are very low.
Indeed, the milestone comes at a politically turbulent moment for PP. Just days before the summit, party co-leader and ex-PM Kiril Petkov resigned in the wake of a domestic corruption scandal, absent from Helsinki as the delegation was led by fellow co-chair Assen Vassilev and former prime minister Nikolay Denkov.
Nevertheless Petkov commented on Facebook that this was “a very important step”. “We Continue the Change” is now officially part of the party of free people who believe in Europe and its future. Bulgaria belongs at the heart of Europe!”, he posted.
In his address to liberal delegates, Vassilev recounted the party’s origins and reformist agenda, highlighting Bulgaria’s expulsion of Russian diplomats following Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“With the governments of Petkov and Denkov, Bulgaria regained the reform momentum it desperately needed,” he said, citing wage growth, governance transparency, and institutional reforms that brought the country closer to Schengen and eurozone accession.
“What I can promise you,” Vassilev told the ALDE audience, “is that we will fight. We will fight together!”
Denkov, addressing the forum in his capacity as academic and former premier, warned of rising authoritarian currents: “Democracy is under attack everywhere, including in Europe. We must move forward and prove that democracy is not the past, but the future. This is what we believe in. This is why we are here.”
MEPs Nikola Minchev and Hristo Petrov, elected under the PP banner, also participated in the summit.
A year ago PP’s MEPs joined Renew Europe, the liberal-centrist group in the European Parliament. At the time, PP stressed that this affiliation was distinct from formal ALDE party membership – a line that mattered given that ALDE’s long-time member in Bulgaria is the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), led by US and UK sanctioned oligarch Delyan Peevski.
Peevski, sanctioned by both the US and the UK for corruption and state capture, has come under growing pressure from within the liberal family. Late last year, both ALDE and Renew Europe launched internal proceedings to expel DPS over reputational and rule-of-law concerns.
Meanwhile, the faction of DPS MPs loyal to party founder Ahmed Dogan have written directly to the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), requesting further sanctions – this time targeting the party structure itself. In their letter, they allege that under Peevski’s leadership, DPS has become a conduit for money laundering, vote-buying, and influence peddling. They further warned that the party’s state subsidy – roughly one million BGN annually (0.5 million euro) – is now being channelled through bank accounts controlled by Peevski.
The ALDE Party Council meeting in Helsinki accepted two more parties along with PP – Gibanje Svoboda (Freedom Movement) from Slovenia and Moderaterne (The Moderates) from Denmark.
With 5 new MEPs joining, the ALDE Party family is strengthening its presence and influence within Renew Europe and remains by far its biggest partner with 54 MEPs representing more than two thirds of the Group.
Caption: A picture from the event provided by PP. L-R Hristo Petrov, Assen Vassilev, president of ALDE, German MEP Svenja Hahn, Nikola Minchev, Nikolay Denkov..
Updated: June 29, 2025 - 05:19
