Bulgarian Right-Wing Renegades Side with Blue Coalition

Bulgarian MEP, Nadezhda Neynski, has been authorized to lead negotiations between her recently founded National Union "Unity" for a joint election ballot with the right-wing Blue Coalition.

Speaking for Darik radio Saturday, she said the goal of the Union was to solidify and strengthen the country's right wing.

The information about the negotiations was further confirmed by the former leader of the Union of Democratic Forces, UDF, Martin Dimitrov.

Dimitrov says the two leading parties – the ruling center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, and the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, cannot solve the staggering problems in the country, and people need an alternative.

He stressed Bulgarians are facing a very harsh winter with wide-spread poverty and bankruptcies, which will prompt people to vote for some other party in the 2013 general election.

The so-called "Unity" union, established by Dimitrov, Neynsky and MP Vanyo Sharkov, held a meeting Saturday in the second largest city of Plovdiv.

The Chairman of the new union, Hristo Panchugov, was adamant it would not be transformed into a political party later.

Friday marked the 23th anniversary since the official establishment of UDF, a party that has played a key role in Bulgaria's transition towards democracy since the fall of the Communist dictatorship in 1989.

The party has witnessed a dramatic rift recently, with the likes of Dimitrov and Sharkov being expelled over their refusal to side with the ruling GERB.

The party's MPs declined to back the nomination of former President Petar Stoyanov (1997-2001) for constitutional judge, saying they did not oppose Stoyanov personally, but the fact that the nomination was imposed by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and GERB. They made clear their opposition to any party nomination for constitutional judge.

This forced UDF leader Emil Kabaivanov to lure three "independent" MPs loyal to GERB, to team up with the UDF leadership and table another nomination.

While UDF's leadership has obviously sided with GERB, "Unity" already declared they were in favor of coalition with the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, DSB, of former PM, Ivan Kostov, and UDF's former partner in the so-called Blue Coalition.

Martin Dimitrov resigned as party leader after UDF voted to not have a joint ballot in 2013 with DSB as they blame Kostov for the split of the right wing in 2001.