The joint list of GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) and SDS (Union of Democratic Forces) won the October 2 election with 25.3 percent of the vote, but the distribution of seats may produce a hung parliament.
The election was the fourth in two years and if GERB-SDS fails to form a stable government, Bulgaria will face the risk of yet another snap poll as the country seeks to contain the impact of Europe's energy crisis and surging inflation amid war in Ukraine.
Borissov’s main rivals, the reformist, anti-graft parties We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, as well as the Socialists, have all ruled out coalition talks with GERB, which they blame for allowing corruption to fester during its decade-long rule that ended in 2021.
Former prime minister Kiril Petkov's We Continue the Change party is the second biggest after GERB-SDS, with 20.2 percent.
“I urge everybody to reflect and try to see how things will look after two or three months. I am ready for all kinds of compromises and concessions in the name of the people,” Borissov said in his first public comment after Sunday's election. He also said that would be willing to give up pursuing the position of prime minister or even a minister in the government, if that was what was needed to have a functioning coalition.
“GERB remains in political isolation. The prospects for such a government are not great. And after his rivals shunned him, early polls look much more likely,” said Dobromir Zhivkov, a political analyst with independent pollster Market Links, and one of many voices that remain sceptical about Borissov's chances of building a coalition government.
Borissov said he believed the parties could find common ground over the war in Ukraine.
Bulgaria is a member of NATO and the European Union, but has had historically close ties with Russia. These ties have, however, steadily deteriorated, especially following Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Together with Poland, Bulgaria became the first EU member to see its gas supplies cut by Russia's Gazprom.
