Bulgaria, Poorest Nation in EU, Holds Third Election in a Year
- Voters endured one of the deadliest outbreaks of Covid-19
- Bulgaria aspires to join euro by 2024 but battling corruption
Bulgarians are voting again in their third general elections this year under abysmal conditions. The poorest nation in the European Union has one of the world’s worst Covid-related death rates, is struggling to access the EU’s pandemic aid and is in a state of permanent political crisis.
Former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has run the country for most of the last decade as it consistently ranked among the most corrupt in the 27-nation bloc. He is poised to win Sunday’s ballot but unlikely to find enough support to create a government. Even if he scrapes into office, he could yet find himself in the same category as other departing political leaders in central and eastern Europe such as Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Austria’s Sebastian Kurz.