Bulgaria needs ‘urgent, radical reforms’ after October 5 snap vote to achieve sustainable development like other ex-communist EU members, caretaker PM Georgi Bliznashki has said.  

With Bulgarians going to the polls for a second time in as many years the country needs a strong government to get it out of ‘the post-communist swamp’, Reuters quoted Bliznashki as saying to foreign correspondents on Tuesday.

Referring to the previous Socialist-led government, which had been in office for about a year before resigning in July, Bliznashki said the next cabinet needs to move fast on reform to make up for lost time and catch up with its peers from the former Soviet bloc which had joined the EU since 2004.

According to the latest opinion polls, centre-right GERB party is tipped to win most votes in the election but fall short of an outright majority, which increases the risk of protracted political instability that could further hamper ‘long-delayed reforms’, said Bliznashki.

“That is why we need a strong political government,” he added.

Overhauling deficits-ridden energy sector, inefficient healthcare and education systems, unblocking EU funds frozen by the European Commission over suspected irregularities in procurement and efficiently fighting corruption are among the most urgent tasks the next Bulgarian government will have to tackle, Reuters noted.