GERB
Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (Template:Lang-bg, Grazhdani za evropeysko razvitie na Balgariya), abbreviated GERB (Template:Lang-bg, meaning "coat of arms") is a Bulgarian centre-right political party established on 2006-12-03. GERB is formally headed by Tsvetan Tsvetanov, former deputy mayor of Sofia, but the party's actual leader is the mayor of Sofia and former policeman, Boyko Borisov. The establishment of the party follows the creation of a non-profit organization with the acronym (in Bulgarian) GERB — Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, earlier the same year. The name of the party is not stated to be an acronym, but is spelled in upper-case nonetheless.
In early January 2007[1] and early February 2007,[2] it came second in public polls on party support with around 14%, trailing the Bulgarian Socialist Party which had around 25%; its stated priorities are fighting crime and corruption, preserving family as the cornerstone of society and achieving energy independence.
GERB won the 2007 European Parliament election in Bulgaria, the first time Bulgaria elected Members of the European Parliament, with 21.69% or 419,301 votes. The party elected five MEPs and joined the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament (in the EPP section). On June 6, 2007 GERB formally applied to join as a member-party the European People's Party (EPP).[3] It joined the EPP on 7 February 2008.[4]
References
- ^ "Socialists Lead GERB in Bulgarian Politics: Angus Reid Global Monitor". www.angus-reid.com. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
- ^ "Socialists Gain, GERB Second in Bulgaria: Angus Reid Global Monitor". www.angus-reid.com. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
- ^ "Official web-site of GERB". gerb-bg.com. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
- ^ "Bulgaria's GERB joins European People's Party (SETimes.com)". www.setimes.com. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
