SOFIA, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Conservatives and liberals were in a close race as votes were counted after Bulgaria’s fifth election in two years on Sunday, while a pro-Russian party made gains with the country deeply divided over the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of its neighbour has deepened a political crisis that has engulfed the poor Balkan nation since 2020, turmoil unseen since the fall of Communism.
Sunday’s results are unlikely to end the crisis in the country of 6.5 million, which is a member of the European Union and NATO but is historically and culturally close to Russia.
Projections based on early results put the conservative GERB of former long-time premier Boyko Borisov at 24-26 percent, just slightly ahead of a coalition led by liberal Kiril Petkov at 23-24 percent.
The ultra-nationalist Vazrazhdane party, which defends the Kremlin’s war, gained 13-14 percent of the vote, up from the 10 percent it won in the last ballot in October, according to the projections.
Official results are only expected during the week.
Borisov, who ruled for about a decade, lost power in 2021 after massive anti-corruption protests rocked Bulgaria.
But that set off a record series of elections with political parties struggling to form stable coalitions, leading to a deeply fragmented parliament and a string of interim governments.
Turnout on Sunday was put at 40 percent, just slightly up from October, where it sunk to a record low of under 40 percent.
All eyes will be once again on Borisov, 63, and Petkov, 42, though analysts say it is far from certain the two could find a way for their parties to work together.
Both men support Ukraine but have a bitter history, with Petkov accusing Borisov of corruption.
Earlier in the day, Borisov said he wanted to “find a solution to the crisis” of repeating elections.
“With this terrible war in Ukraine — this partition of the world — we must very clearly stay with the democratic world,” he said.
Petkov, who was briefly premier in 2022 with his We Continue the Change (PP) party, said he voted for “a normal European life… a normal European government”.
On the other hand, many in Bulgaria still revere Russia as the country that ended five centuries of Ottoman rule in 1878.
Pro-Russian Pres Rumen Radev, who has appointed interim cabinets between the inconclusive elections, has denounced Petkov and his allies as “war mongers”.
He also opposes sending arms to Ukraine, as does the Socialist BSP, the successor of Bulgaria’s Communist Party, which looks to have won 9-10 percent of the votes cast.
At the same time, Bulgaria’s munitions factories have been running at full capacity making ammunition to be exported to Kyiv via third countries. — NNN-AGENCIES
