On his 50th birthday on Wednesday, one of Bulgaria's most popular politicians, Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofianski, officially announced that he will leave the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and establish a new political party.

Sofianski said that he will vote for the last time as a member of the UDF at the presidential elections on Sunday as his priority at the moment is to support President Petar Stoyanov.

"I want to create a European-type party, which will be exceptionally dynamic and will have a clear presence both in opposition and in government," Sofianski said at a press conference on Wednesday. He explained that his party will support Christian Democratic values and will gather absolutely independent free-thinking people.

Sofianski said he did not plan to attract current or former members of the UDF or other mayors. "I will try to attract to the party those people who are not engaged with other political parties," he said, but refused to state concrete names because that might interfere with the presidential campaign.

The motto of the new party will be "Free party of the free people." Sofianski did not announce the name of his party but added that the name will consist of the words Freedom and Democracy. Work on the party's statute has already started and the registration is expected to take place next week. Sofianski promised to give more concrete information on the new formation next week.

"The first priority are the local elections in Sliven, Blagoevgrad and Rousse which will have to happen in two to three months," Sofianski said. He also expressed his concerns. "For me, the basic problem of what I am starting to do is whether I will find the social and political balance between my new responsibilities and my current duties as a mayor."

Sofianski pointed to the insurmountable differences he has with UDF leaders as one of his basic reasons for this decision. In an interview with Trud daily published on Wednesday, Sofianski said that on the day following the elections he will hand back his party membership book to the UDF headquarters. According to him, he has ideological differences with the UDF leadership.

After Sofianski stated his decision to form a new party, UDF leader Ekaterina Mihailova said that she did not know what these ideological differences were. "Bulgaria is a free country and everybody can establish political formations, participate in elections, win and lose," Mihailova said. The UDF leadership as a whole noted that they would make further comments after the presidential elections so that their electorate would not get confused before the vote.

Petar Stoyanov said that the announcement would not influence the presidential elections because of their different political profile. He added that he did not expect a split in the UDF after Sofianski's decision.

MPs from the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII) said that it is ready to cooperate with any newly established political formation. Lyuben Kornezov, an MP from the left-wing Coalition for Bulgaria, noted that practice showed that those who have split from strong formations have not succeeded.

Kemal Eyup, an MP from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms said that his forecast was that Sofianski's new formation would work with the NMSII and the UDF would become a minor right-wing party.