Bulgarian Socialists Blame Ukraine, ABV for Election Defeat

Low voter turnout at the EU elections on May 25 was a result of the Ukraine crisis and the rise of President (2002-2011)'s splinter-off ABV party, BSP officials believe.

After a meeting of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)'s Executive Bureau Tuesday, Dimitar Dabov, Deputy Chair of the party's National Council, said his party failed to mobilize its traditional supporters.

In his view this is related to the position the socialist-led government adopted on Ukraine, but also to Parvanov's Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV), which broke away from the BSP to place a separate bid for the European elections.

Dabov was quoted by DarikNews as saying that the BSP's plenary session this Saturday will be rescheduled and moved forward to the beginning of next week.

The Ukraine crisis sparked controversy among the ranks of the ruling socialist party's representatives both in Parliament and in government, as both were trying to balance between allegiance to the EU and traditional relations with Russia.

Some experts believe this caused discontent among an electorate comprising many Russophiles.

ABV, for its part, gained slightly over 4% at the European elections, and socialists believe it received that support among traditional BSP voters.

The ruling party is still trying to analyze the outcome of the May 25 vote, when it was delivered a huge blow by center-right party GERB, trailing 11% behind the opposition.

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