Bulgaria nationalists may pool their efforts with the currently ruling GERB party for the next general elections, their leader has disclosed.

"A coalition between the nationalist Ataka party and GERB should not be ruled out," Volen Siderov said in an interview for local Monitor daily, which is known to be government-leaning.

According to him it is already time to think about the next parliamentary elections.

"This is a must for the leaders and the political parties," argued Siderov. "The presidential and local elections this year must serve as a basis for the next general vote. At least because the results this autumn will show clearly where we are heading to."

Siderov, who lost the run-off in the 2006 presidential elections, said at the beginning of the month that he is determined to attract this time the support of the ruling party GERB for winning the high, though largely ceremonial, office.

The nationalist, whose party has capitalized on the anger at crime, corruption, poverty and tapped on the ethnic debate, voiced concerns over the lack of clarity regarding the other candidates.

The leader of the most prominent nationalist formation in Bulgaria since 2005 has been a crucial informal ally of Bulgaria's center-right Borisov Cabinet since it took over in mid 2009, providing it with backing in Parliament in addition to the votes of the ruling party GERB.

Bulgaria's leftist President Georgi Parvanov made history on October 29, 2006 for he became the first head of state to be re-elected after a defeat of nationalist leader Volen Siderov with a record-high 75% of the votes.

Parvanov's victory may have been easy and predictable, but was preceded by an embarrassing run-off with nationalist leader Volen Siderov.

Experts played down Siderov's showing but he dealt a heavy blow to all mainstream parties, only to be widely described as an aggression against the status quo, the end of Bulgaria's much-famed ethnic model and a breakthrough in the presidency.

Siderov capitalized on the anger at crime, corruption, poverty and tapped on the ethnic debate - the power that Parvanov had handed to the ethnic Turks gave him a bad reputation, many votes and a powerful card in Siderov's hands.

Brussels shuddered at the thought that an ultra-nationalist became the second-best candidate to usher the country through the threshold of the European Union, but Parvanov himself said he does understand and sympathize with the nationalists' voters and their woes.

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