Parliamentary elections have started in Bulgaria

The fourth parliamentary election in 18 months began in Bulgaria on Sunday morning. The polling stations are scheduled to close at 20:00, when the post-election boxes are expected to be held. In June, the government of Liberal Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was overthrown by a vote of no confidence after just seven months in office. Petkov’s newly founded “We Continue the Change” (PP) party had around 16% in the polls.

The conservative Gerb party of his predecessor Boyko Borissov comes in at around 25%. The election campaign in the poorest EU member state has been dominated by the war in Ukraine and uncertain gas supplies. Bulgaria is historically and culturally linked to Moscow. The invasion of Ukraine caused deep divisions in the country of 6.5 million people.

While Borissov tries not to compromise relations with the EU, Russia and Turkey, Petkov took a clear pro-European stance during the election campaign.