| | Words in the News |
INTRO | | In Bulgaria the movement established by the former King, Simeon II, has won a clear victory in the parliamentary elections. Winners and losers are discussing a coalition government. The BBC's Nick Thorpe reported from Sofia. |
IN FULL | |  | Listen to the report in full |
 |  | 18th June 2001
Former King wins Bulgarian elections |
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NEWS 1 | | | Listen to the first part of the report |
| | | There were no wild celebrations following the former king's victory. The 64 year old business consultant, who has lived most of his life in exile in Spain, spoke slowly, almost awkwardly to his people, promising stable government in which no corruption would be tolerated and an acceleration of the country's integration into the EU and NATO.
He politely brushed aside reporters’ questions about his own possible role in the new government, which he said would be decided later. From the government's side, the outgoing Prime Minister, Ivan Kostov, conceded victory graciously, and admitted personal responsibility for his party's crushing defeat. |
| | | | Listen to the words |
WORDS | | awkwardly: if you say something awkwardly, you say it in an uncomfortable, nervous or embarrassed way
stable: not likely to suddenly change or end
tolerated: things that are allowed to exist or happen even though you disagree with them, are tolerated
brushed aside: refused to answer
graciously: behaving in a polite and pleasant way
crushing defeat: a complete victory over an opponent |
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| NEWS 2 | | | Listen to the second part of the report |
| | | In the corridors of the Palace of Culture, where all party leaders had gathered to follow the results, election rivals began patching up contacts with one another, damaged by sharp exchanges during the campaign.
The former king's movement says it wants to rule in coalition; there are two conservative parties in parliament now - the winners of this election and the defeated government. And some, at least in Ivan Kostov's United Democratic Forces, appear open to cooperation with the National Movement for Simeon II. |
| | | | Listen to the words |
| WORDS | | gathered - came together in a group
election rivals - competitors during an election
patching up - repairing damaged relationships
sharp exchanges - sudden and angry disagreements
open to - if you’re open to ideas and suggestions, you’re prepared to consider them |
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| | | Read about the background in BBC News Online |
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