Bulgarians go to the polls amid voters’ apathy and disillusionment over endemic corruption and political instability.
Bulgarians are voting in the fifth general election in two years, hoping to end political instability and help overcome the economic woes sparked by the war in Ukraine.
Polling stations opened at 07:00 local time (04:00 GMT) on Sunday. Initial results from the exit poll will be announced after the polls close at 8pm (5pm GMT) and preliminary results are expected on Monday.
Turnout is expected to be low due to voters’ apathy and disillusionment with politicians, who have failed to form stable governments and ensure governance in one of the poorest and most corrupt member states of the European Union.
Russia’s invasion of its western neighbor has deepened the political crisis that has engulfed Bulgaria since 2020, the worst instability since the fall of communism.
The country of 6.5 million inhabitants is a member of the EU and NATO, but also has close historical and cultural ties with Russia.
The country witnessed massive anti-corruption rallies three years ago, but contrary to protesters’ hopes of a clean-up of public life, the demonstrations led to a series of elections.
In addition, in the final days before the vote, there was a spate of bomb threats targeting schools hosting polling stations for Sunday’s election.
Cybersecurity experts attributed the threats to hacker groups engaged in hybrid attacks most likely related to Russia aimed at creating fear and reducing voter turnout.
‘Time politicians united’
Conservative leader Boyko Borissov’s GERB party is neck and neck with the reformist We Continue the Change (PP), led by Harvard-educated Kiril Petkov, who briefly served as prime minister in 2022, according to the latest polls.
Borissov, whose decade in office was tarnished by corruption allegations, lost power in 2021.
Both have about 25 percent support.
This time, the PP has joined forces with a small right-wing coalition called Democratic Bulgaria.
Up to seven groups could pass the four percent threshold to enter a fragmented parliament where populist and pro-Russian parties are likely to increase their representation and promote anti-EU politics.
The ultra-nationalist Vazrazhdane party, which defends the Kremlin’s war, is set to receive some 13 percent of the vote, according to polls, compared to the 10 percent it won in the last general election in October.
The socialist BSP, the successor to the Bulgarian Communist Party, has also sided with Moscow and objects to sending weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces.