“I see no serious reason to withdraw. None of the other candidates, even those with worse results, is doing it because the real race is still ahead,” said in an interview for 24 chasa Bulgaria’s candidate for UN Secretary General Irina Bokova.

According to her, the calls for her to leave the race are undignified. Bokova added that “with a second candidate, Bulgaria will become a laughing stock.”

“The race is not over, the serious battle is about to begin. The five rounds of voting were a preliminary stage of sorting and positioning the candidates,” pointed out Bokova.

It is expected that, on Wednesday, the government will review the option of changing the Bulgarian nomination. During the vote on Monday, Bokova was supported by 6 countries, 7 were against, 2 had no opinion. In the previous vote, Bokova was fifth with a score of 7/5/3.

The vote was decisive for Bokova after PM Boyko Borisov announced that if she does not rank first or second, the government might withdraw its support for her.

“I believe my position in all circles is very serious; in the beginning I ranked third and I was the highest-ranking woman. I believe I remain a very serious candidate. But it appears that my successful start was not liked by certain circles in Bulgaria and outside Bulgaria. They saw that I have a chance to win and launched a negative campaign against me. Regretfully, I am the only candidate facing a hysterical campaign of name-calling and slander in my own country. There was always the shadow of a second Bulgarian candidate as well. This is something unknown and unprecedented in the history of such elections,” stated Bokova.

Bokova pointed out that now she expects “a sober political assessment, and honest and serious political support on the part of the government and the Bulgarian institutions.”