Bulgaria’s 2026 presidential elections: Radev and Yotova in triumphalist messages as the finale shows a win for the pro-Russian candidate
Bulgarian Prime Minister Roumen Radev and President Iliana Yotova exulted in triumphalist messages as exit polls at the close of second-round voting on November 1 showed that Yotova had won election as head of state for a new term starting in January 2027.
Yotova was the candidate of an initiative committee, but with the backing of Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria, which in April 2026 won a decisive victory in Bulgaria’s latest early parliamentary elections.
Yotova stood on a ticket with messages about an approach of dialogue with Putin’s Russia and opposition to aid for Ukraine, while her second-round opponent, former caretaker prime minister Andrei Gyurov, stood on a ticket that was pro-Western, pro-Nato and pro-EU, making the contest about the Bulgarian electorate’s choices between allegiance to the autocracy of Putin – already charged in international court with war crimes in Ukraine – and Gyurov’s punting for Western democracy.
When she was vice president, Yotova greeted visiting Russian Patriarch Kirill in Sofia on behalf of the Bulgarian state. She fell to her knees in front of Kirill, who was a KGB agent and who has been a cheerleader for Putin’s attacks on Ukraine.
In an election night address broadcast live on television, Radev – who, along with his government has been determinedly averse to saying anything against Russia – thanked those who had voted in spite of the bad weather.
Radev then thanked Yotova and her running mate, state news agency BTA head Kiril Vulchev for “running a worthy campaign despite the hysteria that was swirling around them.” It was not immediately clear to which “hysteria” Radev was referring.
“Today, Bulgarians chose the future over the past. They chose peace, stability, they chose normality. They chose a sustainable and clear perspective ,” Radev said.
Yotova’s platform, in response to attacks on merchant shipping off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast that had led to deaths and losses of shipping and cargo, has been uttering about a “coalition for peace”.
An explicitly nakedly pro-Kremlin party was defeated at the first round on October 25, with its leader saying that at the second round, he would vote against Gyurov. Weeks ahead of the election, Yotova, when asked whether Ukraine should concede territory to Russia, said that this was a matter for “negotiations”.
Radev simultaneously said that there was no going back to the “assemblage lines” and to the “shadows of the past from the transition.” These were references to controversial domestic matters.
“For us, these elections confirm the correctness of the course we have taken and encourage us for even more decisive and active reforms,” said Radev, who, along with his government, has been reproached in a European Parliament resolution about its weak responses to the Russian attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea.
Radev and his government have the distinction of being alone among Bulgarian prime ministers and governments in being criticised by name by the European Parliament since Bulgaria became a democracy close to 40 years ago. This criticism was specifically about its weakness in regard to Russia and that country’s threat to security on the Black Sea.
Asked if he expects discontent against the government, Radev replied: “Everyone is free to protest about anything. People are protesting about the sun, people are protesting for plants, and (former finance minister, from the opposition We Continue the Change ) Assen Vassilev will protest all the way about the Budget, but that doesn’t mean that we have to hold elections every four to five months because someone protested”. Radev’s government postponed its tabling of Budget 2027 until the presidential elections were over.
“Mr. Radev, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.” These were the first words of Yotova after the first election results from the runoff, which Yotova and Vulchev won, going by exit polls and parallel counts by opinion polling agencies.
Yotova also thanked the Bulgarian voters who came out and exercised their right to vote, as well as everyone who supported their ticket.
“I also want to thank those who did not support us, but came out today to vote, their vote also means a lot to us, because we will hear what they told us. I also want to thank those active Bulgarian citizens who came out, but did not support anyone, we will do a very serious analysis and respond to their concerns,” she added, and also thanked Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Socialist Party for their support.
Gyurov, in televised comments, said: “For all those who were part of the campaign, for those who supported us, who believed that there was a new path for Bulgaria, I understand that this leads to some disappointment, but I think that nothing was in vain, that the best is yet to come and that we have created a really good platform on which to build.”
“Many challenges lie ahead, difficult times lie ahead, and it is important to say here that at the end of this campaign, we as a society, as citizens, must seek unity rather than division… We are ready to show that the campaign is ending, but the responsibility does not end. We are ready to seek responsibility from the state, because it must work for Bulgarian citizens, not for itself,” Gyurov said.
The role and powers of the president are set out in Chapter Four of Bulgaria’s constitution.
The president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, decrees parliamentary election dates, appoints caretaker governments if required, grants citizenship, asylum and pardons and has a limited power of veto over legislation.
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