Bulgaria: Elections

(asked on 23rd June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the elections in Bulgaria of April 2021 following the observations made at the Council of Europe on 21 June 2021.


Answered by
Wendy Morton Portrait
Wendy Morton
This question was answered on 28th June 2021

The UK commends the people and Government of Bulgaria on the successful conduct of parliamentary elections on 4 April, despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. As set out in the Government's Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March, the UK aims to support Bulgaria in defending common values such as democracy and counter shared threats including from Serious and Organised Crime. The UK continues to work closely with the international community, including the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE ODIHR), in support of these aims. HM Ambassador to Sofia met members of the OSCE election observation mission during their visit to Sofia earlier this year and will engage with the OSCE ODIHR and Bulgarian authorities concerning preparations for upcoming parliamentary elections on July 11, including on issues identified in the CoE's observations. We continue to encourage Bulgaria to engage constructively to further improve its electoral practices in line with recommendations from the CoE and OSCE ODIHR.

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