Bulgarian Lawmakers Approve Early Elections

After resignation by prime minister

Bulgarian lawmakers approved the resignation of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, moving the nation toward early elections after protests sparked street violence in the European Union's poorest member.

The motion passed by a vote of 209 to five, with one abstention. The Cabinet and the Sofia-based Parliament will be dissolved and President Rosen Plevneliev will call a new vote. Elections may be held by mid-April at the earliest, Otilia Simkova, an analyst at Europe Eurasia Group in London, said in an e-mail yesterday. They were scheduled for July 17.