Domestic issues dominate the Bulgarian campaign agenda, whereas European issues remain secondary ahead of June’s European elections, according to Euractiv.
Domestic issues dominate among all parties and politicians. Following the resignation of the Nikolai Denkov government in early spring, Bulgaria has once again plunged into a growing political crisis. Bulgaria’s early parliamentary elections were scheduled for the same date as the European elections – May 9.
In 2023, the Denkov government set two main goals for Bulgaria’s future in the EU: achieving full Schengen membership and joining the euro zone. Bulgaria and Romania partially joined the Schengen area with the abolition of border controls at their air and sea borders from March 31, 2024. However, the issue quickly disappeared from the Bulgarian media.
There is no serious debate in Bulgaria about adopting the euro. After the unsuccessful attempt to hold a referendum on Vazrazhdane, there is no one to talk about this issue.
Meanwhile, the latest Trend and Market Links polls indicate that former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s GERB (EPP) has a rating of 26-27 per cent. This means that the party has increased its lead by 10 per cent over the second political formation, the liberal PP-DB coalition (16-17 per cent), which consists of parties affiliated with the EPP and Renew Europe.
Many PP-DB supporters see Borissov and his party as their main political opponent, which has reduced support for the Liberals by about 10 per cent compared to the April parliamentary elections. Preliminary projections show that GERB will hold five to six of the 17 MEP seats allocated to Bulgaria in the EU parliament, up from the current five.
European elections
The potential for the pro-European PP-DB coalition is three to four MEPs, which would be a big step up from the 2019 elections. So far, the coalition parties have only had one MEP.
The party There is Such a People, led by former TV presenter Slavi Trifonov, is counting on 5 per cent support to get a political group in the Bulgarian parliament. It needs at least 4 per cent, but that will not be enough to have an MEP, as it would need 5.88 per cent for the EU vote.
The remaining days of the campaign will decide the battle for second, third and fourth place.
The turnout in the early elections is expected to be the same as in the last general elections: between 2.5 and 2.7 million voters. At the same time, the reported turnout in the European elections is 3 per cent lower.
There are currently many formations below the threshold of parliamentary representation that have a well-defined electoral base, but not enough to get into parliament.
