Financial Times: Bulgaria Populists Overtake Ruling Socialists

The result underlined voters' concerns over high-level corruption, and alleged connections between the government and organised crime groups, the media commented on the elections. Photo by BGNES

Boyko Borisov, the mayor of Sofia, staked a claim to become Bulgaria's next leader at national elections to be held on July 5.

GERB, his populist party, opened up an 8 percentage point lead over the governing Socialists, the Financial Times wrote.

The result underlined voters' concerns over high-level corruption, and alleged connections between the government and organised crime groups, the media commented on the elections.

The right-of-centre Blue Coalition, a possible coalition partner for GERB, did better than expected after its feuding factions patched up their differences.

Meglena Kuneva, Bulgaria's European Commissioner, won a parliamentary seat with the National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMS), led by Simeon Saxe-Coburg, the ex-king and former prime minister. Turn-out increased 10 points from the last European elections but was still low at 38%.

 

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