Former foreign minister Nadezhda Mihaylova was elected leader of the rightist Union of Democratic Forces on Sunday. The delegates of the UDF national conference elected her with 2374 votes. 1365 of the delegates voted for her sole competitor and interim leader Ekaterina Mihaylova. “I consider your support as my responsibility, which I will bear. I will work so that the people in Bulgaria understand the meaning of what the UDF government had done. I need work, honesty, commitment to the cause,” the new leader of the Union of Democratic Forces said after the voting. Ekaterina Mihaylova became leader of the Union of Democratic Forces after former Prime Minister Ivan Kostov handed in his resignation and the party was defeated at the general elections. The new leader of the opposition party is floor leader of UDF and deputy chairman of the European People’s Party. Nadezhda Mihaylova,39, was Bulgaria’s foreign minister in the UDF government 1997-2001. Last year's removal of EU visa restrictions for Bulgarians is considered to be her greatest success.
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