Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is treating very seriously its duty to organize the early Parliamentary elections abroad to assist in a transparent and democratic manner to the organizers of the elections and allow all Bulgarians abroad who wish to cast their vote to do so, said Bulgaria’s interim Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Katya Todorova who heads the working group of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry in charge of the organization of the early elections abroad due on October 5, 2014.

It is still unclear how many polling stations will be opened abroad. However, based on the Election Code and the electoral activity over the past 5 years, the Central Election Commission has forecast that at least 293 polling stations have to be opened, Director of the Law Directorate at the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Krassimir Bozhanov explained.

“According to the new Election Code, we have the grounds to open more polling stations abroad. Bulgarian embassies and diplomatic offices must receive at least 20 applications from Bulgarian nationals living abroad in order to open a polling station. We can also open polling stations in other places, but we need at least 40 applications for the purpose. Let me remind that according to the previous Election Code, the number of these applications had to be at least 100.”

The Foreign Ministry also reminded that the organizations of Bulgarian nationals abroad can make suggestions to the heads of the diplomatic and consular representations about the location of the polling stations until September 9.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds that the recipient country is an active participant at the election process, it has its own rules and Bulgaria must respect those rules and regulations. So far, Italy and Spain have confirmed their agreement to organize elections. Bulgaria also expects confirmation from Great Britain, Greece, Russia, Germany, France and Turkey. According to latest information, a confirmation was received from Ukraine and Afghanistan as well, Bulgaria having a military contingent in the latter.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is worried that the money needed for the early elections abroad would be insufficient. According to the Secretary General of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vesselin Valchev, some EUR 600,000 is allotted for the purpose.

“The new Election Code envisages alleviated procedure regarding the opening of new polling stations and we have all grounds to believe that their number will range from 350 to 400”, Vesselin Valchev explains. “A total of 167 polling stations were opened for the elections for European Parliament in May and we spent some EUR 355,000 for the purpose. We are talking about an increase of 240%, if we open 400 polling stations for the forthcoming elections. The money provided for early elections is 180% higher as compared to the money allotted for the European Elections. In other words, we have all reasons to worry that the money will not be enough.”

A similar money shortage has already occured in the past. If this happens again, the money shortage has to be compensated from the budget of the Foreign Ministry, so that the election process can go smoothly, Vesselin Valchev explains.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent invitations to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Parliamentary Assembly, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) to send observers for the elections on October 5. Between August 18 and 20 Bulgaria was a target of examination on the part of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The organization is yet to decide how many observers are to be sent to Bulgaria for the early elections. A mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is expected to arrive to Bulgaria between September 17 and 20 to make a preliminary assessment and set the number of their representatives at the elections.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov