Thirteen political parties, one coalition and two independent candidates, who were registered to join the race for Bulgaria's first European parliamentarians, started to roll out their pre-election campaigns on April 20.

Bulgarian voters will head to the ballot boxes on May 20 to elect for the first time their representatives in the European Parliament.

Campaigning in public transport and army units is prohibited.

Bulgaria's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) drew on Monday the ballot list for the vote.

The draw put the Bulgarian Green party in the first place in the list, which has 16 spots after the CEC disqualified independent candidate Kristiyan Krastev because he had not gathered sufficient signatures supporting his MEP bid.

The coalition featuring the Socialist party, the senior partner in the ruling three-way coalition and the frontrunner in the polls before the election, has drawn the 8th spot.

Its two partners in the coalition, Simeon II National Movement (SIINM) and the ethnic Turk Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), are 11th and 14th, respectively.

The GERB party of Sofia mayor Boyko Borisov, the main centre-right contender and second in the polls, is 10th.

Centre-right "Order, Rule of Law and Justice" party, which put forth but failed to register Bulgaria's six medics imprisoned in Libya as its candidates for MEP, is fourth.

Ultra-nationalists from Ataka are in 12th.

Political parties looking bidding for MEP seats had to deposit BGN 15,000 and 15,000 signatures in their support. The requirement for the coalitions and initiative committees was a BGN 20,000 deposit and 20,000 signatures, and a BGN 10,000 deposit and 10,000 signatures, respectively.

Bulgaria joined the European Union in January and currently has 18 MEPs, compared to 35 by fellow newcomer Romania.

They enjoy full-fledged rights, but were delegated by their parliamentary represented parties instead of elected by general suffrage.

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