Bulgarian Social Democracy – EuroLeft
Bulgarian Social Democracy – EuroLeft, formerly Bulgarian EuroLeft is a pro-Western social-democratic political party in Bulgaria. The party was established on 22 February 1997 in Sofia. The party was formed by former members of the Bulgarian Socialist Party.
The BEL was admitted into the Socialist International as an observer affiliate in 1999. The party was in favour of Bulgaria's accession to the European Union.
History
Beginnings
The party contested the 1997 Bulgarian parliamentary election as the Civil Union for the Republic – Bulgarian Euro-Left, winning 5.5% of the vote and 14 seats in the National Assembly. Two deputies from the Bulgarian Business Bloc joined the BEL in February 1998. The party was part of the opposition in the National Assembly.In 1998, the coalition voted to convert itself into a party, establishing a National Council to lead it.
In 2000, BEL formed into a new party, BSDE.
This new party competed in the 2001 election, and failed to win any seats alongside minor party allies. and following the election, a split off party from the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, the Bulgarian United Social Democratic Party led by Valkana Todorova, merged into BSDE.