Bulgaria elects first EU deputies

Bulgaria elects first EU deputies

Instead of more traditional European questions, the campaign has been dominated by the fight against corruption, one of the key issues in Bulgaria's accession to the

European Union on January 1 that remains important as the Balkan country remains under strict supervision by Brussels.

Earlier this month the country's economy and energy minister was forced to take a leave of absence and two junior ministers sacked after it emerged they were under investigation in the first corruption probe to target senior officials.

The allegations centre on diverting funds from state-owned companies and officials putting pressure on prosecutors to drop their probe.

The swift reaction of Socialist Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev in forcing out the officials involved appears to have staved off an electoral disaster.

Some 61 percent of the population approved Stanishev's unprecedented move that enabled the "the Socialist party to come out (of the corruption scandal) even more united," said political analyst Mira Yanova of the MBMD polling institute.

According to the latest opinion polls released Friday the governing Socialists are expected to come out top, capturing between five and seven of the 18 seats, closely followed by a new centre-right party led by Sofia mayor Boiko Borisov with four or five seats.

The two smaller government coalition partners, the Turkish minority Movement for Rights and Freedoms party and the National Movement Simeon II of former king Simeon Saxe Coburg are seen as picking up respectively three or four, and one or two seats.

The ultra nationalist Ataka party, the only one overtly opposing Turkey's EU bid, can count on gaining two or three MEP seats, polls showed.

With all of the candidates pledging to pursue accelerated integration within the bloc for their poor country, the election is largely seen as a popularity test for the political parties.

"These elections will allow us to measure the approval rate of each party by society," Stanishev recently told the state television.

Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin told AFP on Friday he expected "the ruling (centre-left government) coalition will keep a large majority" and ruled out any risk for "political destabilisation" after the vote.

However, Borisov's new GERB party, which has capitalised on the corruption scandal, has vowed to call for early general elections if they pull off a surprise victory.

Although the election comes less than six months after the Bulgaria joined the European Union, polls show only a little over a third of the 6.7 million register voters plan to cast ballots.