Bulgaria yesterday faced an uncertain future after center-right Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov quit following the crushing defeat of his Bulgarian presidential nominee at the hands of a Moscow-friendly general backed by the opposition.
Critics fear the surprise win could tilt former communist Bulgaria, which has long walked a tightrope between Moscow and Brussels, toward Russia’s orbit — a trend seen across eastern and central Europe amid rising euroscepticism.
Nearby Moldova also looked set to elect a pro-Russian president on Sunday.
Photo: Reuters
“The results clearly show that the ruling coalition no longer holds the majority,” the prime minister, who was re-elected in 2014 for a second time, said on Sunday evening.
“I apologize to those who supported us. I thought I was doing the right thing,” he said.
The announcement came shortly after projections showed that former airforce chief and political novice Rumen Radev had swept close to 60 percent of ballots.
Borisov’s nominee former Bulgarian parliament speaker Tsetska Tsacheva obtained just over 35 percent, in what political analysts called a “catastrophic defeat.”
“It’s a victory for all Bulgarian people. Democracy has beaten apathy and fear today,” Radev told state TV on Sunday evening.
Meanwhile Tsacheva failed to sway voters disgruntled over the Bulgarian government’s perceived failure to tackle rampant corruption and poverty in the EU’s poorest member state.
Gallup director Parvan Simeonov said the outcome was a “clear protest vote.”
Despite promised reforms, graft and poverty remain rife, while public anger has also grown over thousands of refugees currently stranded in Bulgaria.
“Bulgaria needs a new face, someone who defends national interests instead of always saying ‘Yes’ to the European Union and the United States,” said businessman and Sofia resident Assen Dragov, 39.
The Bulgarian president’s role is largely ceremonial, but the incumbent is nonetheless a respected figure and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Radev is due to take office on Jan. 22 for a five-year term. His first job is likely be to call early elections in spring next year, after Borisov on Sunday said he would refuse to form an interim government. Although Bulgarian centre-right political party GERB remains the country’s top political force, opinion polls indicate it would not be able to obtain an outright majority.
National security and preventing a new migrant influx were key points of Radev’s campaign, which saw the general gaining confidence and projecting himself as a fierce critic of the conservative status-quo.
His clear support for the lifting of EU sanctions on Russia over Ukraine and ambivalent statements about the EU and NATO have prompted analysts to speculate that he could pursue closer ties with Moscow.
“General Radev’s victory represents the unfolding of a pro-Russian scenario in Bulgaria so that the country supports Russian interests in the EU and NATO,” political expert Antoniy Galabov said.
In his victory speech, Radev reiterated his support for scrapping the sanctions and also praised US president-elect Donald Trump for “seeking more dialogue” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“This gives a lot of hope for reducing [the risk] of confrontation, particularly in Syria where Russia and the US are backing opposite sides in a bloody civil war,” Radev said.
His victory signals a change of direction from outgoing Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev, a strong critic of Moscow.
Plevneliev on Sunday said that Russia was trying to “destabilize Europe” by financing anti-EU ultra-nationalists in Balkan states including in Bulgaria.
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