Those who blocked the start of North Macedonia’s EU accession talks had no benefit from their nationalism at the elections in Bulgaria, Luxembourgian university professor, historian and Balkans expert Florian Bieber said in a Twitter post.
“Considering election results in Bulgaria tonight, can we say that none of those who decided to block North Macedonia from EU negotiations benefited from this nationalist cheap shot? Time to move on,” Bieber’s tweet reads.
At the parliamentary election held Sunday in Bulgaria, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s centre-right GERB party was leading the results with 25.8% of the vote. The party There is Such a People (ITN) led by Slavi Trifonov came in second with 17.5%, and the Bulgarian Socialist Party was in the third place with 14.8% of the vote.
The ethnic Turkish MRF party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms with 10.2% of the vote, the Democratic Bulgaria coalition with 9.4% of the vote, as well as the Rise Up! Mafia Out! bloc with 4.7% of the vote are also set to enter parliament.
Current Bulgarian Deputy PM and Defense Minister Krasimir Karakachanov’s IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement, who was most fierce with his nationalist rhetoric towards the country, with 3.6% of the vote didn’t reach the 4% threshold to enter parliament.
