| Bulgaria | |
|---|---|
| European Parliament constituency | |
 Location among the current constituencies | |
| Member state | Bulgaria |
| Created | 2007 |
| MEPs | 18 (2007–2009) 17 (2009–2011) 18 (2011–2014) 17 (2014–present) |
| Sources | |
Bulgaria is a European Parliament constituency for elections in the European Union covering the member state of Bulgaria. It is currently represented by seventeen Members of the European Parliament.
The 2007 European election was Bulgaria's first election since joining the European Union on 1 January 2007 and was held on 20 May 2007.
The top two parties scored 5 seats each; Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria and Bulgarian Socialist Party, followed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms with four, Ataka with three, and National Movement Simeon II (NDSV) with one. It was considered likely that the result of the election would cause a major political crisis in Bulgaria, due to the expected weak results of the National Movement. [1]
The 2009 European election was the seventh election to the European Parliament and the second for Bulgaria.
The 2014 European election was the eighth election to the European Parliament and the third for Bulgaria.
The 2019 European election was the ninth election to the European Parliament and the fourth for Bulgaria.
The 2024 European election will be the tenth election to the European Parliament and the fifth for Bulgaria.
The politics of Bulgaria take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union, it adopts European legislation, following a proposal by the European Commission. The Parliament is composed of 705 members (MEPs). It represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world, with an electorate of 375 million eligible voters in 2009.
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform, to those who oppose EU membership and see the EU as unreformable. The opposite of Euroscepticism is known as pro-Europeanism, or European Unionism.
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
The National Movement for Stability and Progress is a liberal, populist political party in Bulgaria. It was known as the National Movement Simeon II until 3 June 2007.
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An European political party, known formally as a political party at European level and informally as a Europarty, is a type of political party organisation operating transnationally in Europe and within the institutions of the European Union (EU). They are regulated and funded by EU Regulation No. 1141/2014 on European Political Parties and European Political Foundations and their operations are supervised by the EU Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations. European political parties – usually consisting of national parties, not individuals – have the exclusive right to campaign during the European elections and express themselves within the European Parliament by their affiliated political groups and their MEPs. Europarties influence the decision-making process of the European Council through coordination meetings with their affiliated heads of state and government. They also work closely and co-ordinate with their affiliated members of the European Commission.
The Movement for Rights and Freedoms is a centrist political party in Bulgaria with a support base among ethnic minority communities.
The Union of Democratic Forces is a political party in Bulgaria, founded in 1989 as a union of several political organizations in opposition to the communist government. The Union was transformed into a single unified party with the same name. The SDS is a member of the European People's Party (EPP). In the 1990s the party had the largest membership in the country, with one million members, but has since splintered into a number of small parties totaling no more than 40,000 members. The SDS proper had 12,000 members in 2016.
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Sergey Dmitrievich Stanishev is a Bulgarian politician who is serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He previously served as President of the Party of European Socialists from November 2011 to October 2022, Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2005 to 2009, Leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party from 2001 to 2014 and Member of the National Assembly from 1997 to 2014.
Attack is a nationalist political party in Bulgaria, founded in 2005 by Volen Siderov, who was at the time presenter of the homonymous TV show Attack on SKAT TV.
The Green Party of Bulgaria is an environmentalist political party in Bulgaria. It was founded in Sofia in 1989 by Aleksandar Karakachanov, who later went on to become the chairperson of the party.
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The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history. An additional 18 observers were pre-elected.
European Parliament elections were held in Bulgaria on 20 May 2007. It was the country's first European election, having joined the Union on 1 January of that year. The country still had 18 MEPs, no change from before the election. Until Bulgaria could hold these elections, the country was represented by MEPs appointed by the National Assembly.
On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania became member states of the European Union (EU) in the fifth wave of EU enlargement.
VMRO – Bulgarian National Movement, commonly known as VMRO, is a national conservative political party in Bulgaria.
Volya Movement is a right-wing populist political party in Bulgaria. Before 2016, it was known variously as Today and Liberal Alliance. The party was established by Bulgarian businessman Veselin Mareshki, ostensibly on principles of anti-corruption and anti-elitism.