Voters in Bulgaria head to the polls for their sixth election in three years to select a new parliament.
"We're sick of elections and want some stability and prosperity in our nation," stated the 72-year-old pensioner Margarita Semerdshiewa in front of a voting station in Sofia, reflecting the thoughts of many others. Office hours were predicted to be low in this southeastern EU country. Immediately after the stations shut at 20:00 local time (19:00 CEST), the results of exit polls were to be released.
A study by the Open Society Institute indicated that 49% of Bulgarians desired a "strong leader" at the management of their nation. Borissov was attempting to embody this role as a former fireman and bodyguard.
Throughout the campaign, the 64-year-old had promised to create a coalition to end the ongoing political instability. As a potential partner for this endeavor, the Party of the Turkish Minority DPS had revealed interest, receiving around 15% of the vote according to surveys.
If the parties failed to form a government post-election, new elections could occur in the fall - a prospects that experts think very much possible. In this state of affairs, reforms which are necessary for the discharge of EU funds and Bulgaria's complete enrollment in the Schengen Area would be postponed further.
"I selected Bulgaria to return to stability and for its voice to be heard," said Borissov following his scan. His conservative GERB party was most recently polling around 25% in the latest surveys.
The governing liberal reform alliance PP-DP, with whom the conservatives had formerly formed a coalition following the previous vote last year, suffered immense losses and was polling at roughly 15% in the surveys. This level of votes could also support the pro-Russian nationalist party Vasradschdane (Revival).
Bulgaria has been in a political crisis for some time. Numerous elections have resulted in fragmented parliaments, where no party could establish a functional administration. The GERB party had controlled Bulgaria nearly uninterrupted since 2011, but was increasingly isolated following extreme corruption accusations in 2020.
The PP-DP had teamed up with the GERB most recently. For instance, the two parties agreed that traditionally Russia-friendly Bulgaria would support Ukraine in its defense against the Russian assault. Nevertheless, in April, following just nine months of cooperation, PP-DP and GERB collided over an essential legal reform and additional reform propositions.
The election competition was tainted by Russian propaganda and disinformation. Based on a study from a think-tank in Sofia, close to 40% of Bulgarians had disseminated false information. Almost 70% of them believed in conspiracy theories.
