Bulgaria Expects Boost in Winter Tourism with Increased Foreign Visitors
Bulgaria is expecting a boost in winter tourism this year, with about 3.1 million foreign visitors projected between December and March
At 17:00 today, Bulgaria's Central Election Commission (CEC) released the final results with 100% of protocols processed across the Regional Electoral Commissions (RECs).
GERB leads with 642,931 votes, representing 26.388% support, followed by the "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria" (WCC-DB) coalition, which received 346,063 votes or 14.203% support. "Revival" (Vazrazhdane) garnered 325,468 votes, equaling 13.358% support, while "The Movement for Rights and Freedoms - New Beginning" (DPS-Peevski faction) saw 281,366 votes, capturing 11.548%. The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP - United Left) earned 7.568% with 184,403 votes, and the "Alliance for Rights and Freedoms" (DPS-Dogan faction) follows closely with 7.481%, or 182,263 votes. "There Is Such a People" (TISP) received 165,160 votes, or 6.779% support. Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh) achieved 111,946 votes (4.595%), while "Greatness" (Velichie), falling just below the 4% threshold to enter parliament, received 97,430 votes or 3.999%.
Additional parties, including "Blue Bulgaria" at 1.07% and "Bulgarian Rise" at 0.42%, remained below the 4% parliamentary entry threshold. A total of 82,618 ballots were cast by voters selecting the "I do not support anyone" option.
Regionally, GERB emerged as the top choice in 23 districts, including Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, and Vidin, among others. In Sofia, WCC-DB prevailed in two of the capital’s multi-member constituencies (23rd and 24th MIRs), while GERB won the 25th. In Kardzhali, "DPS - New Beginning" claimed victory, as well as in Shumen and Targovishte. Dogan's APS claimed the top spot in Razgrad and Silistra.
Overall, DPS - New Beginning received 99,103 more votes domestically than APS. However, APS led in the overseas vote with 22.65%, followed by WCC-DB with 20.8%, "Revival" with 13.29%, DPS - New Beginning with 9.96%, GERB with 8.11%, "Greatness" with 7.74%, TISP with 7.12%, and MECh with 4.8%.
***
Two parties from yesterday's early parliamentary elections shared their responses on social media.
Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of "Revival," thanked the 325,000 “revivalists” who voted for the party, noting an increase of 10 percent from the previous election. Although "Revival" placed third overall, he highlighted that it ranked second in half of the country.
Kostadinov further remarked that voter turnout rose by 250,000 to a total of 2.5 million votes. He claimed that GERB and the two factions of DPS collectively gained an additional 250,000 votes since June, alleging vote-buying activities by GERB, DPS, WCC-DB, MECh, and Greatness. However, he suggested that a government could be formed this time due to depleted funds.
Meanwhile, "Greatness" posted a brief statement on Facebook, claiming that the CEC manipulated results to keep them out of parliament, with their final count at 3.999%. Their post reads: "This is a display—a display of mafia power over the people."
***
The Central Election Commission (CEC) reported that voter turnout in yesterday's election reached approximately 38.94 percent, based on the tally from all sectional protocols.
The CEC noted that this figure might be subject to revision following a recount.
Preliminary data shows that 2,570,639 people cast their ballots.
This marks an increase of over 4 percentage points in turnout compared to the elections on June 9.
The new Speaker of the National Assembly, Natalia Kiselova, has scheduled an extraordinary parliamentary session for December 10 at 1:00 p.m.
After ten failed attempts to elect a speaker, Bulgaria's parliament finally reached a decision, appointing Assoc. Prof. Natalia Kiselova from the "BSP - United Left"
Boyko Borissov, leader of GERB, has signaled a potential shift in strategy following unexpected developments in the ongoing attempts to form a government and elect a Speaker of the National Assembly
For the tenth consecutive time, the National Assembly failed to elect a Speaker
Bulgaria's Ministry of Defense has confirmed that the government has approved the provision of additional military assistance to Ukraine, as part of its ongoing support
An unprecedented tenth attempt to elect a speaker for Bulgaria’s 51st National Assembly is set to take place today, as the political deadlock continues
Bulgaria Ranks Second in the Balkans at Paris 2024 Olympics, 26th Overall
Bulgaria Leads Europe in Heat-Related Deaths in Record-Breaking 2023