Bulgarian Independent EU Elections Candidate Rejected

Bulgaria's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has decided to suspend Alex Aleksiev as a registered candidate for the European elections.

The electoral body said Aleksiev, who has lived in the US for years, did not meet the requirements for a 6-month permanent residence in Bulgaria prior to the vote, Mediapool agency has reported.

CEC also removed Tatyana Gribchina's entry in Zelenite's election list, as she presently resides in Moldova.

Although his permanent address is in Sofia, Aleksiev has been registered with current residence in the United States since 2006.

After the decision was announced, he declared he would appeal it, adding that it was rather a "political" move, as those ruling did not feel "at ease" with him as a candidate.

He insisted he has lived in Bulgaria for the last four years.

"There are people for which what I am saying, namely that this government is serving the interests of the Kremlin mafia... is simply not convenient", Aleksiev explained and added he was ready to turn to a European court should his appeal be rejected.

Alex Aleksiev, 73, is an analyst and security expert and the author of many books. He heads the Center for Balkan and Black Sea Studies, a non-profit organization.

He is also the son of the renowned poet and artist Rayko Aleksiev, who was beaten to death in prison in November 1944 after portraying Soviet leader Stalin in a cartoon.

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