The campaign for the European Elections in Bulgaria has entered its second half and we are only two weeks away from the EP elections. The Bulgarian Socialist Party has approached the Central Election Commission contending that according to the administration law it is unacceptable for this country’s Premier Boyko Borissov to chair election headquarters of the ruling GERB party. BSP called on the Central Election Commission to order Premier Borissov to leave this position. According to the Central Election Commission, however, Premier Borissov has not violated election campaign rules. The leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party Kornelia Ninova said that Bulgaria is governed by the people behind the scenes and that Premier Borissov is dependent on them. Mariya Gabriel who leads the European Elections list of GERB-SDS called on the voters to say No to confrontation and Yes to dialogue and cooperation and support GERB on May 26. The leader of the European Elections list of VMRO-BND Angel Dzhambazki pointed out that his political party will not fight for presence in the next European Parliament, but for impressive results instead and added that the main goal of VMRO is to earn more votes than the Movement for Rights and Freedoms at the forthcoming EP elections. In the presence of the President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party Hans Van Baalen, the Chairman of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms Mustafa Karadayi called on the voters to support the European Elections list of the MRF, because in his view, it consists of well-educated, skilled, capable and proven professionals. The candidates for MEPs of Ataka party reminded during the weekend their motto: “Let Us Take What is Ours from the European Union” and called on the voters to support them in their fight against the depopulation of Bulgaria and the social poverty. Mediana sociological agency announced that two weeks before the European elections the electoral support distance between the two main political parties in Bulgaria GERB and the Bulgarian Socialist Party has increased from 1.5% to 2% in favor of BSP. This is not due to the inflow of new supporters of BSP, but is rather due to outflow of supporters of GERB party, Mediana contends. Currently, mobilization among the supporters of the two political parties is practically equal and perhaps the erosion in the confidence in GERB party has ended. That is why, the results of the forthcoming European elections will practically depend on some very small details, Mediana contends. May 26 is the last day of a long weekend and the results will depend on whether supporters of given political party stay at home during that long weekend or not. The supporters of GERB party are more mobile and wealthier and perhaps some of them will travel that weekend and will not be able to vote, whereas the European elections are among the few opportunities for social expression for the pensioners, who are not predominant in GERB’s electorate. However, Mediana contends that the ruling party stands a chance of securing a victory at the EP elections, if the protest vote does not go only to their main political opponent - BSP.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov