‘Yes, Bulgaria’ party to apply for membership in EPP

The Yes, Bulgaria party, a key part of the ruling majority in the country, has decided to apply for membership of the European People’s Party (EPP).

“This is a natural choice given the right-wing traditions in Bulgarian politics and our desire to protect liberal democracy in the country,” party leader Hristo Ivanov told Euractiv on Monday.

The Yes, Bulgaria party is part of the Democratic Bulgaria coalition and the Christian Democratic formation DSB, which is also part of the EPP. The third party in the Democratic Bulgaria coalition is the Green Movement party.

The Democratic Bulgaria coalition is currently part of the country’s government together with the We Continue the Change party (associated with Renew Europe) and Boyko Borissov’s GERB party, which is the most influential member of the EPP from Bulgaria.

“During the congress of Yes, Bulgaria, there was also a proposal for the party to join ALDE, but it was rejected,” commented Nadezhda Yordanova, the vice president of Yes, Bulgaria, and a former minister of justice.

A total of 533 delegates at the Yes Bulgaria congress voted to join the EPP, while only 36 voted to join the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).

Party leader Hristo Ivanov told Euractiv that the decision to join the EPP was taken to continue consolidation within the Democratic Bulgaria coalition. The other influential party in the coalition, DSB, was one of the first Bulgarian parties to join the EPP 20 years ago.

After the accession of Yes, Bulgaria to the EPP, the right-wing political family can realistically expect at least seven MEPs to join its group out of a total of 17 MEPs from Bulgaria.

After the accession of Yes, Bulgaria, the EPP has a great chance of maintaining its leading position in Bulgaria over the liberals, who are currently represented only by the Turkish minority party DPS, but the official accession of We Continue the Change is also expected

The Party of European Socialists can only count on the pro-Russian Bulgarian Socialist Party, which now has five MEPs, but will fight for two MEPs in the upcoming elections. The latest sociological polls give the pro-Russian nationalist party Vazrazhdane, which has joined the ECR, a chance of three MEPs.

Democratic Bulgaria and We Continue the Change are expected to form a coalition in the European elections. The latest opinion polls put their support at between 19 and 20%, giving them a chance to win four MEPs, equally divided between the EPP and the Liberals.

GERB (23%) has gathered the most support so far and will fight for at least five MEPs to join the EPP group.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)