Bulgaria's President Runner-up Returns to EP

Ivaylo Kalfin, Socialist presidential runner-up, Bulgarian Member of the European Parliament and ex Foreign Affairs Minister from the previous Socialist-led Three-Way Coalition cabinet. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

By the end of the week, the presidential candidate of the opposition, left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Ivaylo Kalfin, is returning to his job as Member of the European Parliament.

Kalfin and his running mate, movie star and ex Culture Minister, Stefan Danailov, ended second in the presidential race and lost by a 5% margin to the candidates of the ruling, center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party (GERB), Rosen Plevneliev and Margarita Popova.

According to the Bulgarian Trud (Labor) daily, Kalfin is traveling to Brussels Friday.

The former Foreign Affairs Minister from the previous Socialist-led Three-Way Coalition cabinet, is the only Socialist and the only representative of the new EU Member States to be included on the 5-member panel, which will lead the negotiations with the 27 EU countries for the 2014-2020 budget procedure, Trud informs.

Kalfin is also to resume work on his report on internet safety, which is scheduled to be examined and voted on by MEPs by the end of the year. The Bulgarian MEP has insisted for 2 years now to have debates on the subject at EU institutions, stressing its importance and its priority status in the US.

Regarding the presidential race, the BSP candidate, cited by Trud, says he still feels the pain of losing by such narrow margin.

Kalfin plans a modest party before leaving for Brussels for the people from his campaign headquarters.

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