Bulgarian President (2002-2011) Georgi Parvanov is due to found the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV) party on his birthday on Saturday.

ABV has grown out of his movement with the same name, which Parvanov, also a former socialist party (BSP) leader, has headed for years and which surprisingly chose to run at European Parliament elections separately from BSP this year.

Despite its low performance at the EU vote, with slightly over 4% of ballots cast in its favour, some polls say it could make its way into the Bulgarian Parliament in early elections this autumn, as it could pass the four-percent threshold.

Parvanov, who was expelled from the BSP this spring alongside other key party members that had joined his movement, announced his intentions to turn ABV into a party just a day after the EU elections.