SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — A diplomat was appointed as Bulgaria’s interim prime minister on Tuesday to lead a caretaker government until a national election is held in May.

U.S.-born Marin Raikov, the country’s ambassador to France, will lead the interim government of experts whose main task will be to guarantee stability in a Balkan nation, which was shaken by weeklong protests against poverty and corruption that led a center-right government to resign.