Ivaylo Mirchev voted in the presidential election for a head of state who keeps Bulgaria in the EU and NATO and does not leave it isolated among its European partners. The co-chair of "Yes, Bulgaria" and MP said this after casting his ballot.

He also raised the deal signed for a 2.7km section of the Struma motorway, worth €108m. Mirchev said this puts the cost at nearly €40m a kilometre, which he called "an absolute record".

"They must have fitted gold or platinum guardrails to be able to justify this price somehow," Mirchev said.

He thinks things have not been going well lately. Mirchev said there have been developments in recent days on whether laws are obeyed, and the Struma deal is an example. He added that "the facade has changed, the people at the front have changed, but the companies behind them are the same".

At important international meetings, Bulgaria must be at the table, not in the corner.

Mirchev said the head of state must be a check on those in power, not their betrayer. The law must stand above everyone, with no people who are "more equal" than others and none who get around it through connections. If the president is not a check on those in power, everything will go on as before, he said.

Mirchev said the new president's first steps should be to normalise relations with the executive and not betray it.

He called on people to be patriots, to go out and vote, and to give a clear vote on Bulgaria's place. Mirchev also called on Bulgarians abroad to return home.