Bulgarije kondigt kabinetswijziging aan om EU-toetreding voor te bereiden (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Bulgaria's Prime Minister Simeon Saxe Cobourg-Gotha reshuffled four ministers, including the deputy prime minister, Monday (21 February) in the government's third major shift since coming into power in 2001.

Mr Saxe Cobourg-Gotha said one reason for the cabinet changes was to better align itself for accession to the EU, El Mundo reported.

"The important thing in the following months will be to persist in our work for the sake of our community, for the sake of our mother country", he said, according to the Sofia News Agency.

The deputy prime minister and economy minister, Lidia Shuleva, will leave the cabinet to take on the pre-elections campaign for the prime minister's Simeon II National Movement. She will be replaced by current energy minister Milko Kovachev.

The agriculture minister will be replaced by his current deputy, Nihat Kabil, who is a member of the government's junior coalition party whose representation Mr Saxe Cobourg-Gotha sought to increase.

The culture post will be replaced by a new post for culture and tourism which will be headed by Nina Chilova, an MP from the prime minister's party.

The new nominations will be voted on in the parliament Wednesday (23 February).

Bulgaria is set to the join the EU in 2007.