Sofia - Bulgaria will hold parliamentary elections on July 5, President Georgi Parvanov's cabinet said Tuesday. The poll would be the first since Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007. The new centre-right GERB party, headed by former top policeman and now Sofia mayor Boyko Borisov leads popularity surveys with 30 per cent. GERB was however still not tested in elections.

Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev's Socialist Party, which leads the ruling coalition, is ranked in second in surveys with a 20-per cent support.

Under Stanishev's reign Bulgaria has both joined EU but also lost hundreds of millions of dollars in aid from Brussels over his government's inability to curb rampant corruption. (dpa)