Ivaylo Mirchev, co-chair of Yes, Bulgaria and an MP from Democratic Bulgaria, voted in the presidential election at the Academician Lyubomir Chakalov National High School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Sofia.

Mirchev said he backed a Bulgaria that knows where it belongs and does not waver in its place in the EU and NATO. He also backed a head of state who will keep the government in check.

The president must not let Bulgaria become isolated among its European partners, Mirchev said. At strategic meetings, he said, Bulgaria should be at the core, not in the corner. The head of state should not be an appendage of the government. He should put the law above everyone, instead of letting some people with connections fix things for themselves.

The first thing the next president must do is restore normal relations with the executive, Mirchev said.

He also criticised a deal for the Struma motorway, which he said was signed in recent days. It covers 2.7 km for €108m, or nearly €40m per kilometre. Mirchev called that "an absolute record". "They must have put in gold or platinum guardrails, to find some way to spend the money," he said.

Mirchev said there has been some movement on obeying the law in recent days. "The facade has changed, the people at the front have changed, but the firms behind them are the same," he said. People must take their country back, or the same will go on.

He said he hopes voters will turn out as patriots and give a clear vote on where Bulgaria should stand.