Former finance minister and current “We Continue the Change” (PP) leader Asen Vassilev sharply criticized Bulgaria ’s draft Budget 2026, calling it fundamentally misleading, legally questionable, and economically harmful. He argued that the fiscal plan contradicts the Public Finance Act and is based on what he described as an artificially constructed budget gap used to justify large-scale spending decisions. Vassilev claimed the budget narrative about a fiscal “hole” is being used to legitimize