Borisov sets talks in bid to lead nation at third attempt
SOFIA: Bulgaria’s veteran political bruiser Boyko Borisov was due yesterday to begin tough talks to form a lasting government and become prime minister for the third time.
On Sunday Mr Borisov’s pro-EU centre-right Gerb party came first in a snap election in the European Union’s poorest country with 33% of the vote, according to projections from polling firms.
The burly Mr Borisov, a former firefighter and bodyguard, saw off a stiff challenge from the Socialist
Party (BSP), which is seen as closer to Moscow and which garnered 28%.
“I hope we can ensure the rapid formation of a government that responds to the wishes of the people and to the grave international situation,” Mr Borisov said late on Sunday.
But whether the 57-yearold can form an administration — and one that stays the course and is effective, unlike his previous two attempts — remains to be seen.
Bulgaria, where the average monthly salary is €500 (18,700 baht) and corruption is rife even after 10 years in the EU, has now seen three elections in four years.
In the first half of next year, Bulgaria will hold the rotating presidency of the EU in the midst of Britain’s negotiations with Brussels on the terms of its exit from the bloc.
Mr Borisov, once a bodyguard for Bulgaria’s last communist leader and its exking, has long dominated national politics, serving as premier from 2009 to 2013 and again from 2014 to 2017.
But both times Mr Borisov quit early, first in 2013 after mass protests and then last November after his candidate for the presidency was beaten by an air force commander backed by the BSP.
And his reform efforts, in particular in meeting Brussels’ demands to tackle corruption and organised crime, failed to get off the ground both times.
A victory for the Socialists would have raised the prospect of the Nato member of 7.4 million people in southeastern Europe tilting closer to Russia.
Russia, which has long had close cultural and economic ties with Bulgaria, has recently been accused of seeking to expand its influence in other Balkan countries.
PSB leader Kornelia Ninova had said she was not content with Bulgaria being a “secondclass member” of the EU and that she would veto an extension of sanctions imposed by Brussels on Moscow.
But Mr Borisov also said during the campaign that he wanted more “pragmatic” ties with Russia and to revive contentious joint projects.
He also successfully portrayed himself as being able to preserve Bulgaria’s status as an “island of stability” in an unstable Balkans and amid tensions with neighbouring Turkey.
“Borisov had the wonderful idea of being reassuring, of adopting the role of unifier, of conciliator,” said political analyst Haralan Alexandrov.