Bulgaria's Leaders Cast EP Vote

The DSB leader and "Blue Coalition" Co-Chair, Ivan Kostov, said he voted for EP so that Europe can reinstate its trust in Bulgaria.

Kostov cast his vote at the 50th school in Sofia's "Dragalevtsi" suburb, accompanied by his wife and his daughters, Mina and Yana.

Kostov was among the first Bulgarians to cast their vote Sunday. He told reporters, he was voting early because he gets up early and has a lot to do.

"I am a great optimist and believe the Blue Coalition will become the pleasant surprise of these elections," the opposition Blue Coalition" other Co-Chair, Martin Dimitrov, said after casting his ballot at the French Language High School in Sofia, adding the vote turnout was going to be much higher than the 28% forecasted by polling agencies because PM Stanishev and the leader of the ethnic Turkish party, Movement for Rights and Freedoms, (DPS) Ahmed Dogan, have irritated many people.

Sofia's Mayor and informal leader of the opposition Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, Boyko Boirsov, cast his EP vote Sunday at the 78th school in Sofia's "Bankya" suburb.

"We can declare victory only when we succeed to make real change in Bulgaria," Borisov said, adding he voted so that Bulgaria's voice was finally heart in Europe and the European Parliament, where important decisions are made.

Borisov's fellow party member and GERB Chair, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, voted at the 11th school in Sofia. Tsvetanov said that the situation with vote buying in Bulgaria was triggered by the frequent staff changes at the Interior Ministry, which was not motivating for police employees.

"I voted so that Bulgaria does not turn into a province of Turkey," the leader of the nationalist "Ataka" party, Volen Siderov, told reporters after voting in Sofia.

Lyuben Dilov, leader of the EP ballot of the coalition "Forward" appealed to Bulgarians to exercise their right to vote because inactivity was supporting the status quo.

The speaker of the Parliament, Georgi Pirinski, voted at 129th "Antim I" school in Sofia. Pirinski said he was voting to secure Bulgaria's representation at the most prestigious EU body - the EP.

The leader of the "Order, Law and Justice Party", (RZS), YaneYanev, voted in his native town of Sandanski.