Bulgaria's president won a first round of elections today in his bid to serve a second term.
With 99.76 per cent of votes counted, official results showed Georgi Parvanov, the former head of the ruling Socialist party, won by a large margin with 64.0 per cent of ballots cast.
The leader of Bulgaria's nationalist Attack party and presidential candidate Volen Siderov
In second place with 21.5 per cent was nationalist Volen Siderov, the leader of the xenophobic Attack party who campaigned on a platform targeting Bulgaria's large ethnic-Turkish and Roma gypsy minorities.
But voter disappointment over slow reform and a failure by successive governments to raise the Black Sea state's low living standards produced low turnout of 42.1 per cent.
Under Bulgarian law, because at least 50 per cent of voters did not cast ballots in the first round, Mr Parvanov and Mr Siderov must face each other in an October 29th run off.
If Mr Parvanov (49) wins as expected, he will achieve his goal of leading Bulgaria into the EU on January 1st.
The presidential post is largely ceremonial, but Mr Parvanov has close ties with his ruling Socialist allies, and experts say he will help them consolidate power.
He has drawn criticism for failing to push successive cabinets to stop rampant corruption and organised crime, and raise living standards which, with average wages of €160 a month, will be the lowest in the EU.
Mr Siderov, a former journalist, has tapped that disappointment and won votes among many old, poor and disadvantaged Bulgarians who feel they have lost out in Bulgaria's transformation from a former Soviet satellite to a market-based EU economy.
He has promised to outlaw Bulgaria's ruling ethnic-Turkish party, revise sales of state assets and organise referendums on issues like Washington's plans to use military bases in Bulgaria and Sofia's participation in international organisations.