Weak turnout marks European elections in Bulgaria[fr][de] 

On 20 May 2007 Bulgarians were asked to vote for the 18 MEPs who will sit in the 732-strong EU Parliament. Preliminary results show the new Centre-right group, the Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) won 21.69% of votes, closely followed by 21.41% for the Socialist Party (BSP), which leads the government coalition and 20.26 for the Turkish minority Movement for Rights and Freedoms party.

Socialist Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev said the results for his party “failed to meet the expectations”.

According to first estimates, the three leading parties are expected to take five seats each in the European assembly, another three seats may go to the ultra-nationalist Ataka party and the National Movement Simeon II party of former king Simeon Saxe Coburg.

European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering stated: “The 18 Bulgarian members will be the voice of the Bulgarian citizens and will represent their interests in the European Parliament.”

However, the elections were marked by a weak turnout of only 28.6%. A corruption scandal involving members of the government earlier in May had overshadowed the vote. Stanishev has dismissed two deputy ministers due to serious accusations and the economy and energy minister and a government investigator were forced to leave following allegations.

The official results will be announced later today, with final results and MEPs to be named by 23 May 2007.

A Commission report on Bulgaria, judging its progress in the areas of judicial reform, fight against corruption and organised crime, is scheduled for 27 June.