Bulgarians have gone to the polls for the seventh time in less than four years, and the chief beneficiary is expected to be a far-right pro-Russia nationalist party.
The EU’s poorest member has been at a political standstill since the pandemic when a corruption scandal brought down PM Boyko Borissov.
Since then, the former Soviet ally has held six elections, none of which have yielded domestic stability.
The GERB centre-right party, led by Mr Borissov, is expected to finish first but far short of a majority. Therefore, a deadlock remains highly likely.
A Gallup poll put GERB on 26 percent, while the centrist ‘We Continue The Change’ (PP) party and the pro-Kremlin Vazrazhdane party are set to scrap it out for the second place.
GERB may need to go into coalition with Vazrazhdane to govern.
Vazrazhdane, led by Kostadin Kostadinov, is generating traction and support after proposing a law outlawing LGBTQ “propaganda” that was then passed by a large majority in the country’s parliament in August.
A similar law in Russia inspired the legislation. Despite being a NATO and EU member state, many Bulgarian citizens align themselves with the Kremlin.
“Vazrazhdane’s influence is growing to the point where the party is becoming a potential partner for GERB,” Market Links Institute director Dobromir Zhivkov told AFP.