It looks likely that pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych has won Ukraine’s presidential election – but only by a slender margin. Claiming victory, he told supporters: “People wanted change and I think this election was the first step towards the unification of the nation.”

On the second day of his working visit to Britain Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov visits the British intelligence and parliament and confers with his British counterpart Gordon Brown.

Officials from the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will arrive in Bulgaria 18 February to examine the country’s readiness to join ERM II, the so-called Eurozone waiting room.