Centre-right wins in Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s centre-right GERB party is seeking a coalition partner after beating the socialists in a national election.

Party leader Boiko Borisov has pledged to implement urgent economic reforms.

Nicknamed Batman because of his zeal for action, Borisov aims to cut out fraud and save Bulgaria from EU aid sanctions.

He said: “I guarantee that I will do everything possible to bring European funds back to Bulgaria. The prosecutor’s office must solve the problems in the judicial system so that Bulgaria will not receive negative EU reports.”

Last year, Bulgaria lost access to more than half a billion euro in EU funds as punishment for corruption.

Gerb won 39.7 per cent of the vote and the socialists polled less than half of that.

Bulgaria’s former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg resigned as leader of the National Movement for Stability and Prosperity, saying he was taking responsibility for his party’s weak showing in the election.

The party failed to get the four percent of votes required to remain in parliament.

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tags: Bulgaria, Elections, Politics