Reformist bloc nudges ahead in Bulgarian election, exit polls show

SOFIA (Reuters) - A pro-Western reformist bloc won most votes in Bulgaria's parliamentary election on Sunday, according to exit polls, but it is expected to struggle to form a stable coalition government in the European Union's poorest member state.

The reformist bloc, comprising We Continue the Change (PP) and Democratic Bulgaria (DB), won around 25.3% of the vote, an exit poll by GALLUP International showed, just ahead of a centre-right bloc led by the GERB party of former prime minister Boyko Borissov which had around 24.7%.

The TREND pollster put PP/DB on 26.9% and GERB, along with its small partner Union of Democratic Forces (SDS), on 26.7%.
It was Bulgaria's fifth election in two years, as personal antipathy between the leaders of the two main blocs has hampered the formation of a stable coalition government.

The PP/DB in particular accuse Borissov and his GERB party of presiding over rampant corruption in the Balkan state during their decade-long rule that ended in April 2021, something that Borissov denies.

The failure to form a stable government could undermine Bulgaria's hopes of joining the euro currency zone in the near term and of being able to effectively use European Union COVID recovery aid.

Other parties seen entering parliament are Revival, a nationalist party sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Ukraine war, the mainly ethnic Turkish DPC party, and the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the exit polls showed.

Revival was in third place, with around 14.2%, according to Gallup International, potentially allowing it to play a kingmaker role in the new parliament.