"Trend" poll: Decline in support for the government, narrow margin between WCC and GERB party

Support for the government is weakening and the margin between "We Continue the Change" and GERB is very small, results of survey conducted by “Trend” polling agency showed on March 16.

The war in Ukraine and the deteriorated international situation lead to a change in the structure of optimism and pessimism of Bulgarians about the future of the country. The share of pessimists (47%) is now higher than that of optimists (40%), while only a month earlier the figures were reversed.

The dynamic events of the last month, such as the rise in prices of basic goods and services, the sparks between the President and the Executive and the friction between the partners in the governing coalition, have clearly had their impact on public attitudes. We are registering There is a decline in key indicators.

The negative assessment of the performance of the Parliament rose from 52% in February to 64% in March. Positive assessments fell from 29% in February to 24% in March.

The assessment of the government's performance shows an even more drastic change. Since the beginning of this cabinet's term, the positive and negative ratings have been quite similar (39% positive and 40% negative in January and February). In March, 29% were positive and 56% negative about the government's performance.

The dynamics are not as serious in the assessment of the President's performance, but there is some erosion that breaks the positive trend of the past few months. In February, 55% rated the performance of the head of state positively and one third negatively. In March, 49% had positive assessments and 39% negative.

There are also changes in electoral attitudes. In the past two months, "We Continue the Change" has lost 3.5% of its support among voters. The formation around Kiril Petkov and Asen Vassilev continues to occupy the first position, but with a minimal lead of 1% over its main opponent. GERB, on the other hand, stands static in terms of support with 21.9% of voters. MRF is in third place with 11.4% of those who said they will vote in the next elections, with BSP right behind with 10.4% of the voters, followed by "There is Such a People" (7.5% of voters), "Democratic Bulgaria" (7.4% of voters) and "Vazrazhdane" (7.3% of voters).

40% of Bulgarians have changed their attitude towards Russia in a negative direction because of the military invasion in Ukraine. 46% have not changed their attitude. The largest share of supporters of GERB, "We Continue the Change" and "Democratic Bulgaria" have changed their attitude in a negative direction, and the smallest share of those of "Vazrazhdane" and BSP.

Only 16% believe that the Russian military invasion in Ukraine is justified, while 61% are of the opposite opinion. Serious support is also registered on the issue of Ukrainian refugees - over two-thirds of all interviewees are of the opinion that Bulgaria should accept Ukrainian refugees on its territory.

The overwhelming majority of 77% of all Bulgarians are of the opinion that NATO should not directly intervene militarily on Ukraine's side in its conflict with Russia. Only 9% do not share this position.