Bulgaria Gets 1 Extra MEP, Sends Die-Hard Right-Winger

Svetoslav Malinov is pictured here with his family. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

One more Bulgarian will take a seat in the European Parliament on December 1 under amendments to the Lisbon treaty which added 18 extra members to the current legislature.

Bulgaria's new MEP will be Svetoslav Malinov from the rightist Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) party of former Prime Minister Ivan Kostov. Malinov was next in line after the 17 Bulgarian MEPs who made it to the European Parliament. As Malinov becomes the new Bulgarian MEP, this means one extra deputy for the European People's Party from Bulgaria.

"At this point it is important for Bulgaria to have another person in the European Parliament," Malinov commented.

He sees no obstacles to combine his work as Vice-President of the DSB - a post to which he was elected a few days ago - and MEP as in the party he is in charge of European affairs policy.

The number of MEPs needed to be increased because the last European Parliament elections were held under the rules of the Nice Treaty, which set the number of MEPs at 736, while the new Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1st December 2009, provides for 751 seats.

The allocation of new seats was decided during the Lisbon Treaty negotiations. Twelve countries will be sending extra MEPs to Brussels and Strasbourg: Spain will get four new seats, Austria, France and Sweden will send two, while Bulgaria, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom will each get one extra Member.

The only country to have fewer MEPs under the new treaty is Germany, which loses three seats, from 99 to 96. However, as all 99 current German Members will keep their seats until the end of this term, the number of MEPs will temporarily rise to 754.

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