The Financial Times
By PHELIM MACALEER and THEODORE TROEV
Simeon Saxe-Coburg, formerly King Simeon II of Bulgaria, was sworn in as the country's prime minister, becoming the first former monarch to return to power in post Communist Eastern Europe.
After being approved by 141 votes to 50, Mr Saxe-Coburg took the oath of loyalty to the republican constitution in the presence of Patriarch Maxim of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. "This choice is a turning point in my life, and I will do all I can for the country and for every Bulgarian," said the former king, who was deposed at the age of nine by the country's former Communist rulers in 1946.
Mr Saxe-Coburg's National Movement for King Simeon II won 120 seats in the 240-seat parliament in elections in June, and will govern in coalition with the ethnic Turk Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which won a further 21 seats. Ethnic Turks make up about 10 per cent of Bulgaria's 8 M population.
The outgoing centre-right United Democratic Forces (UDF) voted against the new government, and criticised Mr Saxe-Coburg, previously a Madrid-based businessman, for nominating as ministers two members of the Socialist party of ex-communists.
However, UDF leaders said they would co-operate with the new government on issues that would continue the reformist programme of the past four years, including European Union and NATO accession.
Helping the former king to administer the country will be some of the most youthful and unlikely politicians in the region who are taking part in an unusual democratic experiment.
Among the cabinet's most influential figures will be two formerly London-based economists. Nikolai Vassilev, the 32-year-old deputy prime minister who is also responsible for the economy, was until February an emerging markets analyst in Lazard Capital Markets. Milen Velchev, the country's new finance minister, was formerly an emerging markets specialist at Merrill Lynch in London.
Mr Saxe-Coburg told parliament on Tuesday that his government would seek to stimulate foreign and domestic investment through "the principles of the market economy". He also pledged to maintain the currency board that pegs the Bulgarian currency to the D-Mark.
He said his coalition administration would also fight corruption by introducing strict procedures and introducing "one-stop-shops" for processing new investment. While the economy will be in new hands, the appointment of Solomon Passy as foreign minister underscored Mr Saxe-Coburg's desire for continuity in Bulgaria's drive to join the EU and NATO.
Mr Passi is founder and head of the Atlantic Club, a non-governmental organisation that has spearheaded Bulgaria's drive to become a member of Nato. Mr Saxe-Coburg said he hoped to win an invitation to join NATO at its summit next year, leading to membership in 2004.
"We should turn into an economic benefit our geographical position. Bulgaria is a bridge between the east and the west, between the south of Europe and the Middle East," Mr Saxe-Coburg said. Mr Passi said he would do whatever possible to "keep the continuity in Bulgaria's EU accession talks".
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