Election day is proceeding normally in one of the polling stations at the Bulgarian embassy in Vienna, our compatriot Nikolay Yanev told Radio Bulgaria. About 100 people have voted so far, and only 10 have done so with a paper ballot. According to the voters roll, 70 people are registered to vote in this section, but traditionally many more exercise their right to vote there, as the polling station in Bulgaria's embassy in the Austrian capital is the busiest. In the last elections, nearly 600 voters cast their ballots in this polling station. The number today is expected to be similar.

"Spring break started on Friday for all the students in Vienna and many of the families who have children are not in town," explains the Bulgarian. - Some of them have combined Catholic and Orthodox Easter and will probably vote elsewhere. So I expect this to lower the turnout by a notch."

All the members of the polling station committee are in position as of yesterday, when the voting papers were received. According to Yanev, the outcome of today's election will be similar to last October.

"Maybe a few percentage points will overturn the results, but I hope that those who are elected will enter parliament with a proper sense of duty to the voters and will approach the task of forming a government and working in parliament responsibly enough."

The lack of a regular government in Sofia has a specific impact on the Bulgarians in Austria and the image of the country there.

"Here, in Austria, the lack of a regular government led to some delay in the election of a new ambassador and for almost two years we had an acting ambassador - Nikolay Yanev says. From the point of view of a normally functioning administration, it probably raises questions - I guess the Austrians wondered if Bulgaria was giving them some diplomatic message. My explanation for such delays is the abnormally functioning administration in Bulgaria."