ПРОГРАМИ
en de ru fr es sr gr al tr ro
Podcast in English
Share
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Election Day for Bulgarians living abroad has begun 

Vote in Christchurch, New Zealand, April 2, 2023.
Photo: BGNES

The first two polling stations abroad in Auckland and Christchurch in New Zealand opened at 7 am local time (22:00 Bulgarian time last night) for the 49th National Assembly elections, the Foreign Ministry said. 

Voting in Australia began two hours later. Election day abroad is expected to end at the latest at polling stations in California, USA - at 6 pm Bulgarian time (3 pm GMT) on Monday, 3 April. 

Bulgarian citizens can exercise their right to vote in 61 countries, in 737 polling stations. In 245 of the polling stations where machine voting is provided, the machines have been delivered to the Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions.

The largest number of polling stations are in Turkey, where 350 thousand people have the right to vote, but only 10% of the Bulgarian voters in the country are expected to go to the polls.

In Greece, Bulgarian citizens can vote in 21 polling stations. 5 are in Athens, where the largest part of the diaspora is registered. There are another 5 polling stations in five towns on the island of Crete. Bulgarians can also vote in Alexandroupolis, Komotini, Kavala, Stavros and in Thessaloniki. Queues of people waiting to vote had formed when several polling stations opened in the morning.

There are 15 polling stations in Belgium, with the largest number in Brussels. Two are in Bulgaria's permanent mission and two in the embassy. The others are in Antwerp, Ghent, Waregem, Leuven, Maasmechelen and Hasselt. In Belgium there are 45,000 Bulgaria nationals and another 10,000 with dual nationality. Between 40,000 and 45,000 people are eligible to vote, but usually between 10-15% of them vote, with the lowest turnout last July.

There are 2 polling stations in Luxembourg, where there are about 2,000 Bulgarians and approximately 700 of them vote.

Low turnout is expected in France. Three of 16 polling stations in this country are in Bulgaria's embassy in Paris. In Montpellier and Toulouse two polling stations are located at new addresses. Machine voting is available at the polling stations in the French capital, Nice and Lyon.

In the UK, Bulgarians vote in 118 polling stations. In 35 of them there are machines, and in the rest of them Bulgarian citizens will exercise their right to vote with paper ballots.

English version: Elizabeth Radkova

Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.
Radio Bulgaria News    49th National Assembly Australia Belgium elections France Greece Luxembourg New Zealand Turkey UK

More from category

Bulgarian border police are a school for other European border police officers

"The benefit of the joint exercises of the security structures is enormous and today's demonstration was a realistic simulation of incidents that have actually happened in recent months... I believe that the Bulgarian border police..

published on 9/19/25 1:55 PM

Prime Minister does not agree with restricting production of home-made wine and rakia

"It will definitely not happen." This was what Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told journalists on the occasion of the new rules for the production of homemade rakia and wine published for public discussion. "The Ministry of..

published on 9/19/25 1:08 PM

Prime Minister Zhelyazkov awarded students who won medals in natural science Olympiads

"With bright minds like yours, pure hearts like yours and the ambition you possess, I am confident that our future is bright, harmonious and promising", said Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov during an award ceremony honoring Bulgarian students who won..

published on 9/19/25 11:33 AM

WEATHER
Pick city: Sofía
Clear
Min: 8 | Max: 25
Clear
Min: 13 | Max: 24
Clear
Min: 13 | Max: 24
Clear
Min: 7 | Max: 27
Clear
Min: 10 | Max: 26
Clear
Min: 8 | Max: 25
Clear
Min: 8 | Max: 24
Clear
Min: 7 | Max: 23
Clear
Min: 8 | Max: 25
Clear
Min: 6 | Max: 26
Clear
Min: 12 | Max: 26
Clear
Min: 11 | Max: 27
Clear
Min: 11 | Max: 27
Clear
Min: 6 | Max: 24
Clear
Min: 10 | Max: 26
Clear
Min: 10 | Max: 28
Clear
Min: 8 | Max: 23
Clear
Min: 8 | Max: 26
Clear
Min: 11 | Max: 25
Clear
Min: 12 | Max: 25
Clear
Min: 4 | Max: 21
Clear
Min: 6 | Max: 24
Clear
Min: 8 | Max: 27
Clear
Min: 8 | Max: 24
Clear
Min: 11 | Max: 26
Clear
Min: 7 | Max: 25
Clear
Min: 9 | Max: 26
BULGARIA IN PICTURES
Which world-famous Bulgarian artist designed QSL cards for Radio Bulgaria?
Yasen Gyuzelev
Theodore Ushev
Christo Javacheff - Christo
Ilia Peikov
Lika Yanko

BULGARIANS ABROAD

Български English Русский Deutsch Српски Français Ελληνικά Español Shqip Türkçe Română
MOST VIEWED

Rosen Zhelyazkov's cabinet survives fifth no-confidence vote

The government of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov survived a fifth vote of no confidence, this time on the topic of "Internal Security and Justice." 133..

published on 9/18/25 6:37 PM

Morning sunshine, highs of 23 to 28 Celsius expected on Friday

On Friday, the minimum temperatures in Bulgaria will be from 6 to 14°C, in Sofia - 7°C. During the day it will be sunny. A light to moderate wind will..

published on 9/18/25 7:25 PM

Winners of the Bulgarian National Radio essay contest will be awarded at a ceremony in Taraclia

At the end of February this year, the Bulgarian National Radio announced an essay contest aimed at schoolchildren and students from the Bulgarian diaspora..

published on 9/18/25 10:32 AM

english@bnr.bg

+359 2 9336 661

Общи условия за използване на сайта | Политика за поверителност | Политика за "бисквитки"