Bulgaria's GERB to Request EPP Deputy Chair Seat - Boyko Borisov

GERB, Bulgaria's opposition which scored a landslide victory in Sunday's European elections, is to demand the office of EPP Deputy Chair.

The move was announced by GERB's leader and former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov at the press conference his party held on Monday following partial results of the vote.

"We are the hero party at the European elections, [the party] which utterly defeated the Party of European Socialists (PES). We will demand the Deputy Chairperson seat in the European People's Party," Borisov announced.

The ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), headed by PES leader Sergey Stanishev, suffered a huge blow at Sunday's vote, trailing 11% behind the center-right opposition according to partial results.

GERB's leader also reiterated calls for an early general vote, as he believed the BSP-led cabinet has no legitimacy.

He reminded he had introduced a no-confidence motion into Parliament the debates around which were postponed due to lack of quorum, but was clear his party deemed the European elections to be virtually a no-confidence vote that, in his words, the cabinet "did not pass".

Borisov therefore urged that Parliament be dissolved and early elections be held immediately.

As of 13:00 local time, European election results show that GERB keeps its leading position with 30.66% of the votes, followed by Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) with 18.98%.