A pro-Western reformist bloc won the largest number of votes in Bulgaria’s parliamentary election on Sunday, according to exit polls, but is expected to struggle to form a stable coalition government in the European Union’s poorest member state, Reuters reported.

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The reformist bloc, which includes the Continue Change (PP) and Democratic Bulgaria (DB) parties, won about 25.3 percent of the vote, a GALLUP International exit poll showed, an advantage over the center-right bloc led by the party of former prime minister the prime minister GERB of Minister Boyko Borisova scored about 24.7%.

According to the TREND survey, PP/DB scored 26.9%, and GERB together with its small partner, the Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) – 26.7%.

It was Bulgaria’s fifth round of elections in two years, as personal animosity between the leaders of the two main blocs prevented the formation of a stable coalition government.

The PP/DB specifically accuses Borisov and his GERB party of running rampant corruption in the Balkan state during their ten-year rule, which ends in April 2021, which Borisov denies.

Failure to form a stable government could undermine Bulgaria’s hopes of joining the eurozone in the short term and being able to effectively use European Union aid to recover from COVID.

Other parties making it to parliament are the Renaissance Party, a nationalist party sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, the ethnic Turks’ Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPC) and the Bulgarian Socialist Party, exit polls showed.

According to Gallup International, “Revival” is in third place with about 14.2%, so it is very likely that it will play an important role in the new parliament.

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