Three children are playing in a village. They take a ballot paper, put it in a bottle and throw the bottle into the creek.

Over the picturesque scenery, we hear the voice of one of the children: “Will it go to Brussels?”

“Of course,” another of the children responds.

This is one of the TV spots that can be seen every night after the evening bulletins of the three national TV channels, public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) and the two national commercial channels, bTV and Nova TV.

This particular TV spot for Bulgaria’s May 20 MEP elections is for the Coalition of Bulgarian Social Democrats (CBSD). The advert is probably the most “innovative”, considering the TV clips of the other 15 parties registered for the elections.

Only the ultra-nationalist Ataka party could have rivalled the CBSD’s “unorthodox” approach, but thanks to decisions by station chiefs and broadcasting regulatory body the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), Ataka’s campaign advert was not aired on any national channel.

Ataka leader Volen Siderov and his cohorts had prepared a clip showing the Eiffel Tower turning into a mosque’s minaret. “If it was not for us, this is how things would have looked today,” says the voiceover, in a reference to the time when the Ottoman Empire’s expansion was halted before it could continue into Western Europe. CEM banned the video, although it can be seen on the internet, and was aired by Ataka’s mouthpiece TV channel, SKAT, bringing a penalty down on SKAT. After the CEM decision, Ataka made no further attempts at TV advertising.

The adverts flighted by other political parties could hardly be said to have broken any new ground in television advertising.

Naturally, the biggest adspend on TV advertising was by the three parties in the current national governing coalition: the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), National Movement Simeon II (NMSII) and Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). As parties represented in Parliament, they enjoy state subsidies.

Every night, TV viewers see messages from the Platform European Socialists, the label the BSP is using in this year’s MEP election campaign.

The melody that goes along with the images is that a traditional Bulgarian dance, the horo, a tune most often heard on television during BNT’s traditional New Year party (in the celebratory, not political sense) broadcast. The faces of the MEP candidates go past in rapid succession, hardly allowing a viewer to identify them all. Those who have been around long enough to make the association may find the BSP campaign adverts somewhat reminiscent of the TV chronicles of the former Bulgarian Communist Party from about 20 years ago. A difference is that today the BSP offers signing for hearing-impaired voters.

The NMSII is probably the only party in the ruling coalition that does not have a hard core of supporters. The party was established in 2001 as a national movement and tries to promote itself as the party of the young Bulgarians who want to live and work in the EU.

This it the theme of the NMSII MEP election campaign. Yellow is the party’s colour, and the EU flag naturally is given a place on NMSII election posters. Blue and yellow are the theme colours of the NMSII spots as well. The party shows “ordinary people” talking about what an MEP should be. The responses from NMSII candidates come seconds after the questions. The NMSII also rolls out its big gun, having provided Bulgaria with its first European Commissioner, Meglena Kouneva, a member of the party and formerly the country’s European Affairs Minister. Kouneva is depicted as proof of Bulgaria’s place in the EU. The TV spot closes by harking back to the moment of Kouneva’s taking the oath as a European Commissioner. As the “party of the young,” the NMSII also has a message about the rights of Bulgarian internet users, especially when downloading intellectual property.

The MRF is in a category of its own when it comes to hard-core supporters. The party is supported mainly by Bulgarians of ethnic Turkish descent, and has few illusions that it can attract the support of the rest of the population. MRF TV spots are less than lavish, only showing the party’s candidates in close-up while a voice describes their qualities. Less is more, presumably. Underneath the pictures of the candidates, one can see how many languages each speaks. Indeed, languages have always been a serious matter within the MRF because 99 per cent of their voters speak two languages (the party’s website offers Bulgarian, Turkish and English versions).

Out of the four right-wing parties represented in the National Assembly, the Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB), has paid the biggest attention to its TV spots. DSB TV campaign themes follow the same model of the past 17 years: anti-BSP and anti-MRF. DSB leader Ivan Kostov is shown from his halcyon days as prime minister six years ago. Some of the party’s previous election campaigns are shown as well. “We are against the BSP and against Turkey in the EU,” DSB candidate list leader Konstantin Dimitrov is shown telling party supporters.

Centre-right opposition party Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) has taken a minimalist approach, where “minimalist” in this context may easily mean “uninteresting”. Opinion polls suggest that the UDF has little reason for hope in these elections, and apparently the party’s leaders have decided to save some money. A blank blue screen and big white letters describe the party’s messages, nothing else.

The other minority right-wing party, the Union of Free Democrats, acts as a real “leader’s party”. “Sofianski knows how” is the UFD message. UFD Stefan Sofianski is described as the man who knows how to get things done. Campaign coverage has shown Sofianski, invariably clad either in a casual sweater, and with the recent warm weather in a t-shirt, explaining in exhaustive detail to potential voters how to access EU funds.

Only one party has decided to use the deeply traumatic saga of the five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya in the campaign. Law, Order and Justice promises to fight for the “nurses in Libya” and against the “political mafia”. The party stirred up considerable emotion three weeks ago when it was refused permission to register the five nurses on top of its election list.

The major absentee from the TV spots battleground is the party that pollsters say will get second, if not first, place in the elections.

The Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, abbreviated as GERB in Bulgarian, had by May 16 not aired a TV advert. GERB is led by Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov, who is not standing as an MEP candidate. The lack of TV spots has deprived Bulgarians of getting to know anyone in GERB other than Borissov.
The final few days before the Day of Contemplation, May 19, when campaigning is banned, parties were expected to become somewhat more strident. But from what viewers have seen so far, a surprise is very unlikely, unless the bottle reaches Brussels.