Sofia, 8 June 2022 (dpa/MIA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said on Wednesday he was prepared to lead a minority government, after a populist party withdrew from the four-way coalition that took office late last year. Slavi Trifonov, an entertainer who leads There Is Such a People (ITN), said he was pulling the party's four ministers out of the government due to Petkov's policy regarding North Macedonia and budget issues. Petkov's pro-Western government is accused by nationalist critics like Trifonov of planning to lift Bulgaria's veto on the start of EU accession talks with North Macedonia. Bulgaria vetoed the start of those talks at the end of 2020, saying North Macedonia was not implementing a bilateral treaty signed in 2017. "We are ready for a minority government," Petkov responded after ITN's withdrawal. Among those departing is Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska. Earlier, three ITN ministers walked out of a government meeting, saying their proposals for changes to the current state budget had not been given fair consideration. Petkov, on the other hand, accused the ITN of demanding an additional 3.6 billion leva ($1.93 billion) for road construction companies said to be close to former prime minister Boyko Borissov. Petkov's other coalition partners are the Socialists and the Democratic Bulgaria alliance. The four-party government had a majority in parliament of 131 of the 240 deputies.