Patriotic Front

Bulgarian Interior Ministry Rumyana Bachvarova has confirmed that a grenade launcher attack in a neighborhood next to downtown Sofia targeted Alexei Petrov, a former agent suspected of having ties to the criminal underworld.

With 75 % of the ballot papers processed, it seems that Bulgaria's main ruling party, GERB, will lose the majority it has enjoyed in the municipal council of Sofia.

Prior to the local elections, which were held in Bulgaria on Sunday, GERB had 33 out of 61 municipal councillors in the capital.

According to the latest exit polls, run-offs for the mayors of the cities of Plovdiv, Shumen and Vidin are likely to take place as no candidate garnered more than 50 % of the votes at the first round of the local elections, which took place in Bulgaria on Sunday.

Conservative GERB party of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has mustered around 34.5% of the vote nationally, in the national election held on Sunday, a Gallup exit poll shows.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the main opposition force, comes second with 17.2% of ballots, followed by the liberal Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party, at 14.6%

With an astounding 83.7%, Dimitar Nikolov has been reelected for a third term in the Black Sea port city of Burgas as Bulgaria is holding local elections on Sunday, an Alpha Research poll suggests. 

A survey by rival Gallup agency puts support for Nikolov at 83.5%.

Nikolov, as in the previous (2011) vote, was backed by the main ruling GERB party of PM Boyko Borisov. 

An incident which claimed the life of an Afghan migrant near Bulgaria's border with Turkey on Thursday evening is already leaving politicians in Bulgaria divided over what actually had happened.

Bulgarian lawmakers have narrowly turned down a proposal by the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) calling for sanctions against Russia to be reviewed.

Sofia has enforced measures against the Russian Federation in line with the EU and the US policies toward Moscow after the Ukraine crisis began last year.

A member of the Reformist Bloc, a loose coalition of right-wing parties which are part of Bulgaria's cabinet, has warned early elections should be considered as an option given the deadlock in Parliament on key legislation.

Left-wing ABV party, which is part of the government, is ready to run in snap elections if these are called, its Deputy Chair has said.

In in interview with private bTV station on Monday Rumen Petkov said the party now has enough organizations across Bulgaria which could help it carry out a new campaign.

Proposed changes to Bulgaria's constitution meant to push forward a reform of the judicial system have been backed by 75% of the members of parliament.

A total of 180 MPs from both governing and opposition political parties have signed a draft bill calling for amendments to the constitution that was submitted to parliament on Friday.