Bulgaria's Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev quite surprisingly submitted personally the papers of the European Socialists' Platform coalition to register it for the European Parliament vote. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)
Bulgaria's PM Sergey Stanishev quite surprisingly submitted personally the papers of the European Socialists' Platform coalition to register it for the EP vote.
Stanishev's early morning visit at the Central Election Committee took by surprise journalists and photo reporters, who were not notified in advance. The hurry was explained with the prime minister's official visit to Croatia at the invitation of his counterpart Ivo Sanader.
The European Socialists' Platform, which teams up Stanishev's Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Social Humanism, submitted nearly 40,000 signatures to back its runners, more than three times the required minimum.
The list is led by Kristian Vigenin.
Bulgarians will head for the polling booths on May 20 to elect its first representatives at the European Parliament.