February 28 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's prime minister Kiril Petkov said on Monday that he will propose to parliament to approve the nomination of Todor Tagarev as new defence minister, to replace Stefan Yanev.
Earlier in the day, Petkov said he will demand Yanev to resign for describing the Russian assault on Ukraine as a ''military operation" instead of "war".
"No minister in this government has the right to pursue his own foreign policy, in Facebook in particular [...] Secondly, a minister in my cabinet cannot use the word ''operation" when soldiers have been killed. Soldiers, whose age is less than that of my elder daughter," Petkov said during a news briefing streamed live by public television BNT.
The parliament will vote on Yanev's resignation on Tuesday.
Tagarev is the nomination of We Continue the Change party led by Petkov, the prime minister said on Monday, as quoted by BNT. Each of the four parties in the ruling government coalition can come up with a proposal for a defence minister, he added.
The coalition government comprises We Continue the Change, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the populist There Is Such a People, and reformist Democratic Bulgaria formation.
Tagarev was defence minister in the 2013 caretaker government and member of the NATO Research and Technology Board.