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Sofia (AP) - Bulgaria has elected a new parliament in the middle of the third corona wave.
The turnout in the afternoon was almost 40 percent, according to the Central Election Commission in Sofia, and thus below that of 2017.
The polling stations closed at 19.00 CEST.
According to initial forecasts, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov's party won the elections, but missed an absolute majority.
As the polling institute Gallup International announced on the basis of polls after voting on Sunday, Borissov's bourgeois party GERB got 25 percent of the vote.
The second strongest force with 17.1 percent will be the protest party "There is such a people" of the TV presenter and cabaret artist Slavi Trifonow.
According to Gallup, the opposition socialists came third with 16.7 percent.
Two other protest parties, the Turkish DPS party and the nationalist WMRO, are also forecast to move into parliament.
In view of the distribution of forces, the formation of a government is becoming difficult.
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The election is seen as a referendum on the political future of Prime Minister Borisov, who has governed with one interruption since 2009.
On election day, the opposition, made up of socialists and protest parties, once again asked citizens to vote for political change in the poorest EU country.
Due to Corona, numerous hygiene rules applied to the election.
In hospitals and for people under quarantine, there were mobile ballot boxes with teams in protective clothing.
They wore masks and helmets.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210404-99-84039 / 2