Sofia, 20 December 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The Bulgarian parliament on Wednesday passed constitutional amendments restricting the powers of the country's Russia-friendly President Rumen Radev.

The pro-Western ruling PP-DB and GERB-SDS, together with the centrist Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party of the Turkish minority, backed the bill in the third and final reading.

The PP-DB is an alliance of We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria parties. THE GERB-SDS consists of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria and the Union of Democratic Forces parties.

With 165 out of 240 votes, the two-thirds majority required for constitutional amendments was narrowly achieved, the BTA news agency reported.

The amendments are also aimed at strengthening the independence of the judiciary. They further stipulate that dual nationals who hold another citizenship in addition to Bulgarian citizenship can become members of the parliament and government if they have lived in the country for at least the last 18 months.

The president will also have less say if a coalition government fails, in which case he or she will no longer be able to dissolve parliament.

When appointing a caretaker prime minister, Bulgaria's president will in future only have the choice between the speaker of parliament and members of a close circle of senior government officials.

Following the vote, Radev said in a statement that he would submit the amendments to the Constitutional Court as they would undermine the foundations of the democratic and sovereign state.

Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said the president was himself an involved party and was therefore unable to make an objective assessment.

The two pro-Western ruling blocs, which had previously opposed each other, have been in Bulgaria since June. The country belongs to NATO and the European Union.

Part of the coalition agreement is a rotation of the prime minister's post, according to which Denkov from the liberal-conservative CC-DB will be replaced by Maria Gabriel from the centre-right GERB-UDF after 18 months.