Bulgarian opposition narrowly wins first European elections

Bulgaria’s opposition centre-right party has narrowly won the country’s first European Parliament elections. Official results show the Citzens for European Development in Bulgaria Party took just over 21.5 per cent, with Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev’s Socialist Party just 0.3 percentage points behind.

The Socialist’s coalition partner MRF took just over 20 per cent.

The result means each of the three parties are likely to take five of Bulgaria’s 18 seats in the European Parliament, with the nationalist Attack party receiving the other three.

It was Bulgaria’s first European elections since accession to the EU in January. Voter turnout was poor, however, at just 28.6 per cent.

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