Bulgaria’s parliament approves new government

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s parliament has formally approved the country’s new centrist-led government in a bid to restore stability, tackle the coronavirus crisis and spur economic development in the poorest EU member country. Lawmakers voted 134-104 to elect 41-year-old Kiril Petkov as prime minister. In a separate vote, legislators also approved the Cabinet — a coalition between Petkov’s anti-corruption party and three other left-wing and center-right groups. Petkov is a Harvard-educated entrepreneur who served as minister of economics in the previous caretaker Cabinet. He announced that transparency in public spending, zero tolerance for corruption and reforms in the judiciary will be the keystones of his government program.