Party of Bulgaria’s pro-Russian former president ahead in exit polls | Bulgaria
The party of Bulgaria’s pro-Russian former president Rumen Radev came first in the country’s eighth parliamentary election in five years, according to exit polls, but failed to secure a majority.
Radev, who resigned from the presidency in January, vowed to fight corruption after the anti-graft movement triggered a long political crisis.
The EU’s poorest member has seen successive governments since 2021, when anti-corruption rallies brought an end to the conservative rule of longtime leader Boyko Borissov.
According to two exit polls, the center-left group of Progressive Bulgaria parties came in well ahead of Borissov’s conservative GERB, which fell to about 16%, and the liberal PP-DB coalition, which got about 14%.
Radev, who has called for renewed ties with Russia and opposed military aid to Ukraine, assumed leadership of Progressive Bulgaria after nine years as president of the Balkan country with a population of 6.5 million.
The 62-year-old former air force general said he wanted to rid the country of its “oligarchic model of governance”. Last year, he backed new anti-corruption protests that brought down the last conservative-backed government.
“Everything needs to change,” retired engineer Stiliana Andonova told AFP after voting in Sofia, listing the “judicial system” and “corruption” among concerns.
Shortly before polling stations closed at 17:00 GMT, Radev arrived at his group’s headquarters.
When an AFP reporter entered the office, whose windows were covered with campaign branding featuring his portrait, he was greeted with applause by his team waiting inside. He is expected to make a statement later on Sunday.
Earlier, after the vote in Sofia, Radev said Bulgaria “has a historic chance to break completely with the oligarchic model.” He called for “a democratic, modern, European Bulgaria.” He also said he hoped to establish “practical relations with Russia based on mutual respect and equal treatment.”
Radev condemned the 10-year defense agreement signed last month between Bulgaria and Ukraine, which has been fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion since 2022.
Although he said his country would not use its veto power to block EU decisions, he also opposed Bulgaria’s sending of weapons to Ukraine.
Borissov, who has ruled the country almost uninterrupted for nearly a decade, rejected suggestions that Radev was bringing anything “new”.
After voting in his hometown of Bankya, just outside Sofia, Borissov praised his party for having an “extremely pro-European attitude” and underlined the party’s support for Ukraine and Brussels.
After casting her vote, 47-year-old finance expert Gergana Mihailova told AFP there was a “big risk that Bulgaria will change its geopolitical course and orientation.”
Lack of trust in politics has put pressure on voter turnout, which fell to 39% in the last election in 2024. However, according to Boryana Dimitrova, an analyst at the polling institute Alpha Research, a higher turnout is expected this time as Radev rallies voters.
Political parties had urged Bulgarians to go to the polls to reduce the influence of vote buying. In recent weeks, police have seized more than €1 million in raids against vote buying. They detained hundreds of people, including local council members and mayors.
