SOFIA, Mar 25, 2008 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Bulgaria's last tsar Simeon Saxe-Coburg, who was also prime minister of the country from 2001 to 2005, is likely to bid for the newly established post of EU president, the Sofia News Agency reported on Tuesday. 

The ex-king's National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP) party unofficially confirmed the news. 

"It would be a wonder if his nomination were not discussed," said NMSP Deputy Chair Milen Velchev, who served as finance minister in Saxe-Coburg's government. 

The ex-tsar is chairman of the NMSP party, which he founded in 2001 and is part of Bulgaria's current three-way coalition. 

The Bulgarian parliament on Friday voted 195-15 in favor of the Lisbon Treaty, becoming the sixth country to pass the new charter, which has also been ratified by France, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Malta. 

The treaty provides for a long-term president of the European Council of EU (European Union) leaders, a stronger foreign policy chief, a simpler, more democratic decision-making system and more say for the national and European parliaments.