“The recognition of Ataka as a real factor over the past three years shows that both commentators and the political elite have normalised their views,” the leader of ultra-nationalist party Ataka Volen Siderov told private broadcaster bTV's morning show in a discussion on whether Ataka will enter the government at the next elections.

“Bulgaria needs a new economy of income, a new anti-corruption programme, a general purge in the sphere of law enforcement - police, customs, prosecutor's office - a new modern pension reform, stimulation of production, a system for verification of incomes,” Siderov said on the principles Ataka proposed to become the kernel of a bloc of parties to go together to the next elections.

“If we are disunited, if everyone plays separately, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms will again be all over our heads at the next elections. We need to be united, we need a cabinet of the Berlusconi type,” Siderov said.

Talking about the recent row involving a number of Bulgarian athletes being banned from participating in the Beijing Olympics later on this summer for using illegal substances, chairperson of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee Stefka Kostadinova told Nova TV's morning show: “The situation in Bulgarian sport is not at all the best. Over the past two weeks we got shaking news – first a cyclist was caught with testosterone, then a shooter with cocaine, and now there is the whole national weightlifting team.”