Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party won most votes in today's early parliamentary election with between 32.2% and 32.8% of the vote, exit polls showed.
The Socialist Party BSP was trailing with 28-28.4%, exit polls conducted by Alpha Research and Gallup International Balkan (GIB) showed.
Nationalist alliance United Patriots garnered about 8.8%, the polls showed.
The snap general election took place with the centre-right GERB party challenged for power by Socialists who said they would improve ties with Russia even if it meant upsetting the country's European Union partners.
Opinion polls had put the GERB party of former prime minister Boiko Borisov only narrowly ahead of the Socialists (BSP),who have seen their popularity rise since the candidate they backed, Rumen Radev, won Bulgaria's presidency in November.
Mr Borisov resigned in the wake of Mr Radev's victory, triggering Bulgaria's third parliamentary election in just four years.
While Bulgaria historically has had strong ties with Moscow, Mr Borisov's GERB party is strongly pro-EU and has supported the bloc's sanctions on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis.
The Socialists, led by Kornelia Ninova, had vowed to vote against continuing the sanctions, posing another potential headache for the EU as it grapples with Britain's departure, the rise of right-wing populists and the future shape of the bloc.
Bulgaria takes over the EU's rotating six-month presidency in January 2018.
