site.bta PES President Stanishev: No Pressure from Brussels for Coalition between Bulgarian Socialist Party, GERB

PES President Stanishev: No Pressure from Brussels for Coalition between Bulgarian Socialist Party, GERB

Sofia, March 31 (BTA) - There is no pressure from Brussels for a coalition between the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and GERB, President of the Party of the European Socialists (PES) and former BSP leader and prime minister Sergei Stanishev said Friday, talking to reporters before the meeting of BSP's National Council which analyses the results of the March 26 early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria. "I spoke with BSP leader [Kornelia Ninova] two days ago and told her no such pressure exists, least all from the PES," Stanishev said.

Stanishev speculated that it will be a problem for the European People's Party (EPP), as well as for the Social Democrats in Europe, participation in the ruling coalition in Bulgaria of the United Patriots. He said that this happens in "a European context where the extreme nationalists are waging a political battle in France and Germany, and GERB's possible coalescing with the United Patriots will raise a number of questions before the EPP". "It is important for the governance to be pro-European and I think that GERB have difficulties in this respect," Stanishev said.

For him a coalition between GERB and BSP "is not an option". Stanishev does not think that the BSP should participate in a grand coalition. "The BSP is justified to feel self-confident and expect a strong representation in Parliament," Stanishev said. The PES President that the expectation were for an even stronger election result. "For me it is important that in the next months the BSP shows initiative and a leading role in the formation of the European agenda in Bulgaria," Stanishev said.

At the March 26 elections the BSP emerged as the second-biggest force in the next Parliament, polling 27.19 per cent of the votes.