SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — The Latest on Bulgaria's election Sunday: (all times local):

10:50 p.m.

The leader of Bulgaria's Socialists has conceded defeat after exit polls showed her party placing second in the parliamentary election held Sunday.

Socialist Party leader Kornelia Ninova congratulated former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov's GERB party as the election's winner.

The Socialists, who campaigned on forging closer relations with Russia, ruled out any option of serving in a coalition government with the center-right GERB party.

Ninova says that if "GERB fails to form a government, we will try to do so."

Official returns are expected Monday.

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9:50 p.m.

The leader of Bulgaria's center-right GERB party says the party is prepared to form a government after exit polls showed it placing first in a parliamentary election.

Former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said Sunday evening that GERB has the "duty to form a government because this is the will of the people and because we triggered these early elections."

Two exit polls gave the party more than 32 percent of the vote.

Borisov declined to say with which parties he would try to form a coalition government, pending final election results expected Monday.

However, he stressed: "We will not allow any interference of foreign powers in Bulgaria's internal affairs."

Tensions over the right of Bulgarian citizens living in Turkey to vote and allegations that Ankara was interfering in the election prompted pre-voting protests.

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8:10 p.m.

A pair of exit polls from Bulgaria's parliamentary election shows the center-right GERB party of former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov taking the lead.

The Alpha Research exit poll said GERB won 32.2 percent of the vote and the Socialists came in second with 28 percent.

A separate exit poll by Gallup International Balkan had GERB with 32.8 percent and the Socialists with 28.4 percent.

The Central Election Commission said voter turnout for Sunday's election stood at nearly 43 percent at 5 p.m., a larger showing than in previous elections.

Official results are expected Monday. If they confirm the exit polls, Borisov will be handed a mandate to form his third cabinet.

Story continues

The GERB party was defeated by Socialist President Rumen Radev in the November 2016 presidential election. Borisov resigned after Radev's victory.

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3:10 p.m.

Bulgarians are headed to the polls for the third time in four years in an early vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member closer to Russia.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova, whose party wants EU sanctions lifted against Russia imposed after it annexed Crimea in 2014, says Sunday that she voted "for a change."

She also voted for "security at our borders and inside the country, for justice, and lastly not to give an opportunity to another country, no matter if it comes from East, West or South to interfere in our politics."

Bulgaria, located in southeast Europe, is both a member of the EU and NATO.

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11 a.m.

Bulgarians are headed to the polls for the third time in four years in an early vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member closer to Russia.

Some 6.8 million Bulgarians are eligible to vote Sunday in an election widely predicted to bring about a fragile government coalition and a fragmented legislature where nationalist and populist parties could become kingmakers.

The election campaign focused on the future of EU, the influence of Russia and Turkey on domestic politics, as well as problems associated with an increased number of migrants.

Surveys say former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov's center-right GERB party is running neck-and neck with the Socialist Party of ex-communists. Both parties have pledged to improve economic relations with Russia, appealing to voters who feel let down by the EU.

"I voted for a stable, predictable and united Bulgaria, because tomorrow our nation needs to be united," Borisov said after casting his ballot.

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8 a.m.

The Bulgarian election on Sunday has sparked protests at the Turkish border for the last two days by nationalists who are determined to keep Bulgarian citizens living permanently in Turkey from coming in to vote.

The border blockade reflects rising tensions between the two countries over Turkey's open backing for a group that represents Bulgaria's sizeable Turkish minority. Some 10 percent of the 7.2 million Bulgarians are of Turkish origin or are Muslims. More than 300,000 have settled permanently in neighboring Turkey, but still hold a Bulgarian passport and are eligible to vote.

The blockade by nationalists could affect some 50,000 voters from Turkey.

The protesters claim Turkish officials are forcing expatriate voters to support DOST, a pro-Ankara party running for the first time that nationalists fear is a threat to Bulgarian interests.

The tense relations have prompted a spat between the two nations' leaders.

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7 a.m.

Boiko Borisov, a 57-year-old political maverick who combined man-in-the-street rhetoric with a strict obedience to the EU when he was prime minister, is a key figure in Bulgaria's election on Sunday.

His center-right GERB party was defeated by Socialist President Rumen Radev, a former air force general, in the November 2016 presidential election.

Borisov resigned after Radev's victory, and his party's popularity faded because of the slow pace of reforms to eliminate graft and poverty and overhaul the judicial system. It is now pledging to fight corruption and to raise minimum wages and supports EU sanctions on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova wants EU sanctions against Russia lifted, a bigger role for the state in the economy, and has wooed voters with promises of higher salaries and pensions.

A populist party Volya (Will) is trying to enter Parliament. It's led by Veselin Mareshki, a wealthy businessman who combines patriotic rhetoric with promises of strict immigration controls and friendlier relations with Moscow.</s>SOFIA: Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party won most votes in Sunday's early parliamentary election with between 32.2 percent and 32.8 percent of the vote, exit polls showed.

The Socialist Party BSP was trailing with 28.0 percent to 28.4 percent, exit polls conducted by Alpha Research and Gallup International Balkan (GIB) showed.</s>Former Bulgarian prime minister and leader of centre-right GERB party Boiko Borisov arrives for a news conference at the party's headquarters in Sofia, Bulgaria March 26, 2017. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's center-right GERB party narrowly won a parliamentary election on Sunday, giving it a chance to form another government after leader Boiko Borisov resigned as prime minister in November, triggering the snap poll.

The GERB party won 33 percent of the vote, the Balkan country's third in just 4 years, with the leftist Socialists trailing on 27.2 percent, partial official results with 26 percent of the ballots counted showed.

"The result of the vote shows that GERB is obliged to form a government," said Borisov.

The election had been seen as a test of Bulgaria's loyalties to the European Union, which it joined in 2007, and to Russia, with which it has historic political and cultural links.

The Socialists, who had pledged to improve ties with Russia even if it meant upsetting EU partners, doubled their share of the vote compared to the last election in 2014 but failed to overtake the strongly pro-EU GERB.

If Borisov, 57, succeeds in forming a new coalition, it is likely to maintain the tight fiscal policies that underpin the lev currency's peg to the euro.

GERB is expected to court the United Patriots nationalist alliance, which came third with 9.6 percent of the vote, followed by ethnic Turkish party MRF with 7 percent, according to partial official results. The Populist Will party will also enter the next parliament.

Political analysts are skeptical the results can lead to a government able to uproot widespread corruption in the EU's poorest member state.

"I am not optimistic that these results will lead to the formation of a stable majority that can pursue strong policies," said Ognyan Minchev, a political analyst with the Sofia-based Institute for Regional and International Studies.

"It is likely to be fragile and unstable," he said.

The United Patriots has built its popularity on anger about the flow of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia trying to reach Western Europe via the Balkans.

On Friday, supporters of the alliance blocked Bulgaria's border crossings with Turkey in an effort to stop buses bringing Bulgarian ethnic Turks to vote in Sunday's election.

Ahead of the election, Borisov signaled he hoped to include the Reformist Bloc in a GERB-led coalition government, but exit polls suggested the right-wing group had failed to secure enough votes to make it into parliament. That will likely complicate coalition talks.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova, 48, conceded defeat in the election but said she would look at options for forming a government in case GERB cannot do so.

The Socialists had pledged during campaigning to raise wages and pensions as well as oppose continuing EU sanctions against former Soviet-era overlord Russia.

That would complicate relations with Bulgaria's EU peers -- already grappling with Britain's move to leave and the rise of anti-establishment parties across the bloc -- as it gets ready to take over the EU's six-month rotating presidency in January.

Borisov resigned after a GERB candidate lost a presidential election in November to Rumen Radev, a Russia-friendly ally of the Socialists, and Bulgaria is currently being run by a caretaker administration.</s>SOFIA: Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party narrowly won a parliamentary election on Sunday, giving it a chance to form another government after leader Boiko Borisov resigned as prime minister in November, triggering the snap poll.

The GERB party won 33 percent of the vote, the Balkan country's third in just 4 years, with the leftist Socialists trailing on 27.2 percent, partial official results with 26 percent of the ballots counted showed.

"The result of the vote shows that GERB is obliged to form a government," said Borisov.

The election had been seen as a test of Bulgaria's loyalties to the European Union, which it joined in 2007, and to Russia, with which it has historic political and cultural links.

The Socialists, who had pledged to improve ties with Russia even if it meant upsetting EU partners, doubled their share of the vote compared to the last election in 2014 but failed to overtake the strongly pro-EU GERB.

If Borisov, 57, succeeds in forming a new coalition, it is likely to maintain the tight fiscal policies that underpin the lev currency's peg to the euro.

GERB is expected to court the United Patriots nationalist alliance, which came third with 9.6 percent of the vote, followed by ethnic Turkish party MRF with 7 percent, according to partial official results. The Populist Will party will also enter the next parliament.

Political analysts are sceptical the results can lead to a government able to uproot widespread corruption in the EU's poorest member state.

"I am not optimistic that these results will lead to the formation of a stable majority that can pursue strong policies," said Ognyan Minchev, a political analyst with the Sofia-based Institute for Regional and International Studies.

"It is likely to be fragile and unstable," he said.

The United Patriots has built its popularity on anger about the flow of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia trying to reach Western Europe via the Balkans.

On Friday, supporters of the alliance blocked Bulgaria's border crossings with Turkey in an effort to stop buses bringing Bulgarian ethnic Turks to vote in Sunday's election.

Ahead of the election, Borisov signalled he hoped to include the Reformist Bloc in a GERB-led coalition government, but exit polls suggested the right-wing group had failed to secure enough votes to make it into parliament. That will likely complicate coalition talks.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova, 48, conceded defeat in the election but said she would look at options for forming a government in case GERB cannot do so.

The Socialists had pledged during campaigning to raise wages and pensions as well as oppose continuing EU sanctions against former Soviet-era overlord Russia.

That would complicate relations with Bulgaria's EU peers - already grappling with Britain's move to leave and the rise of anti-establishment parties across the bloc - as it gets ready to take over the EU's six-month rotating presidency in January.

Borisov resigned after a GERB candidate lost a presidential election in November to Rumen Radev, a Russia-friendly ally of the Socialists, and Bulgaria is currently being run by a caretaker administration.</s>Bulgaria’s centre-right GERB party narrowly won a parliamentary election on Sunday, giving it a chance to form another government after leader Boiko Borisov resigned as prime minister in November, triggering the snap poll.

The GERB party won 33 per cent of the vote, the Balkan country’s third in just 4 years, with the leftist Socialists trailing on 27.2 per cent, partial official results with 26 per cent of the ballots counted showed.

“The result of the vote shows that GERB is obliged to form a government,” said Borisov.

The election had been seen as a test of Bulgaria’s loyalties to the European Union, which it joined in 2007, and to Russia, with which it has historic political and cultural links.

The Socialists, who had pledged to improve ties with Russia even if it meant upsetting EU partners, doubled their share of the vote compared to the last election in 2014 but failed to overtake the strongly pro-EU GERB.

If Borisov, 57, succeeds in forming a new coalition, it is likely to maintain the tight fiscal policies that underpin the lev currency’s peg to the euro.

GERB is expected to court the United Patriots nationalist alliance, which came third with 9.6 per cent of the vote, followed by ethnic Turkish party MRF with 7 per cent, according to partial official results. The Populist Will party will also enter the next parliament.

Political analysts are sceptical the results can lead to a government able to uproot widespread corruption in the EU’s poorest member state.

“I am not optimistic that these results will lead to the formation of a stable majority that can pursue strong policies,” said Ognyan Minchev, a political analyst with the Sofia-based Institute for Regional and International Studies.

“It is likely to be fragile and unstable,” he said.

The United Patriots has built its popularity on anger about the flow of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia trying to reach Western Europe via the Balkans.

On Friday, supporters of the alliance blocked Bulgaria’s border crossings with Turkey in an effort to stop buses bringing Bulgarian ethnic Turks to vote in Sunday’s election.

Ahead of the election, Borisov signalled he hoped to include the Reformist Bloc in a GERB-led coalition government, but exit polls suggested the right-wing group had failed to secure enough votes to make it into parliament. That will likely complicate coalition talks.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova, 48, conceded defeat in the election but said she would look at options for forming a government in case GERB cannot do so.

The Socialists had pledged during campaigning to raise wages and pensions as well as oppose continuing EU sanctions against former Soviet-era overlord Russia.

That would complicate relations with Bulgaria’s EU peers – already grappling with Britain’s move to leave and the rise of anti-establishment parties across the bloc – as it gets ready to take over the EU’s six-month rotating presidency in January.

Borisov resigned after a GERB candidate lost a presidential election in November to Rumen Radev, a Russia-friendly ally of the Socialists, and Bulgaria is currently being run by a caretaker administration.</s>SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — The center-right GERB party of former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov took the lead in Bulgaria’s parliamentary election on Sunday, a pair of exit polls showed.

The Alpha Research exit poll said GERB won 32.2 percent of the vote, with the Socialist Party coming in second with 28 percent, while a separate exit poll by Gallup International Balkan had GERB with 32.8 percent and the Socialists with 28.4 percent.

The Central Election Commission said voter turnout for the election stood at nearly 43 percent at 5 p.m., a larger showing than in previous elections.

Official results are expected Monday. If they confirm the exit polls, Borisov will be handed a mandate to form his third cabinet.

GERB did not win enough votes to govern alone, and will likely form a coalition government with the United Patriots, an alliance of three nationalist parties that the exit polls showed placing third.

Support for the alliance reflected widespread anger over an influx of migrants to this southeastern European nation that borders Greece, Turkey and Romania, and over Turkey’s open support for a party representing Bulgaria’s sizeable Muslim minority.

Borisov, 57, a political maverick who combines man-in-the-street rhetoric with a pro-European Union disposition, resigned as prime minister after his party lost the November 2016 presidential election. Parliament was dissolved in January and the president appointed a caretaker government that will stay until a new government is formed.

“I voted for a stable, predictable and united Bulgaria, because tomorrow our nation needs to be united,” Borisov said after casting his ballot.

Along with the immigration, the election campaign focused on the future of the European Union, which Bulgaria joined in 2007, and the influence of Russia and Turkey on domestic politics.

The Socialist Party of ex-communists has pledged to improve economic relations with Russia, appealing to voters who feel let down by the EU. Bulgaria is also a member of NATO.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova wants EU sanctions against Russia lifted, seeks a bigger role for the state in the economy and has wooed voters with promises of higher salaries and pensions.

Ninova said she voted Sunday “for security at our borders and inside the country, for justice, and lastly not to give an opportunity to another country, no matter if it comes from East, West or South, to interfere in our politics,” she said Sunday.

The GERB party’s popularity faded because of the slow pace of reforms to eliminate graft and poverty and overhaul the judicial system. It is now pledging to fight corruption and to raise minimum wages and supports EU sanctions on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis.

A populist party named Volya (Will) may end up entering Parliament. Exit polls showed it winning about 5 percent of the vote, exceeding the 4 percent minimum threshold.

The party is led by Veselin Mareshki, a wealthy businessman whose anti-establishment message combines patriotic rhetoric with promises of strict immigration controls and friendlier relations with Moscow.

The election sparked protests at the Turkish border by Bulgarian nationalists who were determined to keep Bulgarian citizens living permanently in Turkey from coming in to vote. The protesters claimed Turkish officials were forcing expatriate voters to support DOST, a pro-Ankara party running for the first time.

Some 10 percent of Bulgarians are of Turkish origin or Muslim. More than 300,000 Bulgarians have settled permanently in Turkey, but still hold Bulgarian passports and are eligible to vote.

The border tensions prompted a spat between the two nations’ leaders. While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized what he described as “pressure” on ethnic Turks in Bulgaria, Radev retorted that his country would not accept democracy lessons from Turkey.</s>Bulgaria’s centre-right GERB party narrowly won a parliamentary election on Sunday, giving it a chance to form another government after leader Boiko Borisov resigned as prime minister in November, triggering the snap poll. The GERB party won 33 percent of the vote, the Balkan country’s third in just 4 years, with the leftist Socialists trailing on 27.2 percent, partial official results with 26 percent of the ballots counted showed. “The result of the vote shows that GERB is obliged to form a government,” said Borisov.

The election had been seen as a test of Bulgaria’s loyalties to the European Union, which it joined in 2007, and to Russia, with which it has historic political and cultural links. The Socialists, who had pledged to improve ties with Russia even if it meant upsetting EU partners, doubled their share of the vote compared to the last election in 2014 but failed to overtake the strongly pro-EU GERB.

If Borisov, 57, succeeds in forming a new coalition, it is likely to maintain the tight fiscal policies that underpin the lev currency’s peg to the euro. GERB is expected to court the United Patriots nationalist alliance, which came third with 9.6 percent of the vote, followed by ethnic Turkish party MRF with 7 percent, according to partial official results. The Populist Will party will also enter the next parliament.

Political analysts are sceptical the results can lead to a government able to uproot widespread corruption in the EU’s poorest member state.

“I am not optimistic that these results will lead to the formation of a stable majority that can pursue strong policies,” said Ognyan Minchev, a political analyst with the Sofia-based Institute for Regional and International Studies.

“It is likely to be fragile and unstable,” he said.

The United Patriots has built its popularity on anger about the flow of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia trying to reach Western Europe via the Balkans.

On Friday, supporters of the alliance blocked Bulgaria’s border crossings with Turkey in an effort to stop buses bringing Bulgarian ethnic Turks to vote in Sunday’s election.

Ahead of the election, Borisov signalled he hoped to include the Reformist Bloc in a GERB-led coalition government, but exit polls suggested the right-wing group had failed to secure enough votes to make it into parliament. That will likely complicate coalition talks.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova, 48, conceded defeat in the election but said she would look at options for forming a government in case GERB cannot do so.

The Socialists had pledged during campaigning to raise wages and pensions as well as oppose continuing EU sanctions against former Soviet-era overlord Russia.

That would complicate relations with Bulgaria’s EU peers — already grappling with Britain’s move to leave and the rise of anti-establishment parties across the bloc — as it gets ready to take over the EU’s six-month rotating presidency in January.

Borisov resigned after a GERB candidate lost a presidential election in November to Rumen Radev, a Russia-friendly ally of the Socialists, and Bulgaria is currently being run by a caretaker administration.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now</s>SOFIA: Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party won most votes in Sunday's early parliamentary election with between 32.2 percent and 32.8 percent of the vote, exit polls showed.

The Socialist Party BSP was trailing with 28.0 percent to 28.4 percent, exit polls conducted by Alpha Research and Gallup International Balkan (GIB) showed.</s>SOFIA, March 26 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party won a parliamentary election on Sunday, exit polls showed, giving it a chance to form another government after a GERB administration resigned in November, triggering the snap poll.

Exit polls conducted by Alpha Research and Gallup International Balkan (GIB) showed GERB had won between 32.2 percent and 32.8 percent of the vote, with the Socialist Party BSP trailing on 28.0 percent to 28.4 percent.

The Socialists had said they would improve ties with Russia if they won the election, even if that meant upsetting the country's European Union partners.

A government led by GERB prime minister Boiko Borisov resigned in November after the party's candidate lost a presidential election to pro-Russian, Socialist-backed candidate Rumen Radev. Bulgaria is currently in the hands of a caretaker administration.

Borisov said during the election campaign that he could hold talks to form a coalition government with the United Patriots nationalist alliance and the small Reformist Bloc grouping, if it crosses the parliamentary threshold of 4 percent.

The exit polls put the United Patriots in third place with 8.8-9.5 percent of the vote, followed by the MRF ethnic Turk party on 7.8-9.7 percent.

If the Reformist Bloc does not make it into parliament, Borisov will need to find other supporters, suggesting complicated coalition talks in the coming days. (Editing by Radu Marinas; Editing by Catherine Evans)</s>Moments after voting ended in Bulgaria’s March 26 2017 early parliamentary elections, an exit poll said that Boiko Borissov’s centre-right GERB party had 32.2 per cent and Kornelia Ninova’s Bulgarian Socialist Party 28 per cent.

The exit poll, by the Alpha Research agency, indicated that the 44th National Assembly could have six parliamentary groups, going by the parties and coalitions said to have surpassed the four per cent threshold for election to the unicameral legislature.

Others said to have won seats were:

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), which traditionally has a strong electoral base among Bulgarians of Turkish ethnicity, founded by Ahmed Dogan: 9.7 per cent.

The centre-right Reformist Bloc-Glas Naroden coalition: four per cent.

On the basis of this exit poll, Alpha Research estimated that in Bulgaria’s 240-seat National Assembly, GERB would have 86 to 88 seats, the BSP 75 to 77, the United Patriots and the MRF each somewhere between 25 and 27, Mareshki’s Volya 13 to 15 and the Reformist Bloc-Glas Naroden 10 to 11.

Among other notable contestants in the election, the results were said by the exit poll to be right-of-centre New Republic coalition 2.6 per cent, former justice minister Hristo Ivanov’s pro-judicial reform Yes Bulgaria coalition 2.9 per cent, the coalition of socialist splinters ABC-Movement 21 at 2.4 per cent and Lyutvi Mestan’s DOST party, a break-away from MRF – 2.7 per cent.

Those who voted “I don’t support anyone” was 2.9 per cent.

Voter turnout was seen at about 50 per cent.

Should these results be borne out by the official results to be announced by the Central Election Commission at the beginning of the week, a formidable task will lie ahead in the formation of a governing coalition, which would probably require at least three partners to be viable.

In the weeks ahead of the election, both Borissov and Ninova made statements about with which parties they would not govern – for instance, Borissov said that he would not involve the MRF in a coalition, while Ninova also indicated that there could not be another coalition with the MRF, although she repeated that should her party get the most votes, it would hold an internal poll of its members on which coalition partners they would prefer.

The March 26 elections were a sequel to Borissov’s resignation as prime minister in November 2016 after his party’s candidate was defeated in presidential elections by Roumen Radev, who stood as the candidate of an initiative committee backed by the BSP.

After Borissov’s resignation, attempts at forming a new governing coalition failed.

In the course of the election campaign, Borissov said that if his party came second, it would not seek to form a government even if a bid to do so by the party with the most votes failed.

A timeline of key political events in Bulgaria from 2007 to 2017 is available on The Sofia Globe’s special page.

The Sofia Globe election factfile about Bulgaria’s March 2017 vote is online here.

German-language coverage of the elections is on The Sofia Globe Deutsch page.
Official results of yesterday's election are released today. An exit poll showed the centre-right GERB winning the most votes.