Sofia, Bulgaria ? Bulgaria’s Parliament overwhelmingly approved the leader of the Socialist Party as the country’s new prime minister on Tuesday, bringing to power his socialist-liberal coalition government.

Lawmakers voted 168-67 to elect Sergei Stanishev, a 39-year-old historian, to head the Cabinet that will lead the country into the European Union.

In a separate, 169-68 vote, they approved the cabinet, drawn up in a coalition of Stanishev’s Socialists, the National Movement Simeon II, his predecessor Simeon Saxcoburggotski’s party, and a mainly ethnic Turkish party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.

The coalition agreement, reached Monday, ended a nearly two-month political stalemate that had jeopardized the aspirations of this Balkan country to join the EU in 2007.

The coalition gives the new government the strong support it needs to drive through laws required by the EU before the end of September, when the European Commission is scheduled to issue a report on Bulgaria’s readiness for membership.