Bulgarians yesterday voted in the country’s eighth election in five years, with former Bulgarian president Rumen Radev’s grouping tipped to win on a pledge to fight corruption, after an anti-graft movement triggered a long political crisis.
Bulgaria has been through a spate of governments since 2021, when large anti-graft rallies brought an end to the conservative government of former Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov.
Radev has advocated for renewing ties with Russia and opposes military aid to Ukraine. He stepped down in January to lead newly formed center-left grouping Progressive Bulgaria, with opinion polls the vote suggesting the bloc could gain 35 percent of the vote.
Photo: AFP
The former air force general has said he wants to rid the country of its “oligarchic governance model,” and backed anti-corruption protests last year that brought down the latest conservative-backed government.
“I’m voting for change,” Decho Kostadinov, 57, said after casting his ballot at a polling station in Sofia, adding that corrupt politicians “should leave — they should take whatever they’ve stolen and get out of Bulgaria.”
Several voters lined up at the station even before polling booths opened at 7am. Final results are expected today at the earliest.
Borissov’s pro-European Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party is likely to come second, according to opinion polls, with about 20 percent, ahead of the liberal We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria party.
“I’m voting to preserve what we have. We are a democratic country, we live well,” accountant Elena, who did not give her full name, said after casting her vote.
Front-runner Radev has slammed the EU’s green energy policy, which he considers naive “in a world without rules.”
He also opposes any Bulgarian efforts to send arms to help Ukraine fight back Russia’s 2022 invasion, although he has said he would not use his country’s veto power to block Brussels’ decisions.
Pushing for renewed ties with Russia, Radev denounced a 10-year defense agreement between Bulgaria and Ukraine signed last month — drawing fresh accusations from opponents of being too soft on Moscow.
“We need to close ranks,” he said, presenting his party as a non-corrupt “alternative to the perverse cartel of old-style parties.”
Borissov, who headed the country virtually uninterrupted for close to a decade, has dismissed suggestions that Radev brings something “new.”
GERB had “fulfilled the dreams of the 1990s,” with such achievements as the country joining the eurozone this year, he said.
Radev is aiming for an absolute majority in the 240-seat parliament.
A lack of trust in politics has affected voter turnout, which slumped to 39 percent in the last election in 2024.
However, with Radev rallying voters, high turnout was expected this time, Alpha Research analyst Boryana Dimitrova said
Taxi driver Miglena Boyadjieva said she always votes, but the “problem is that there is no one to vote for.”
“You vote for one person and get others. The system has to change,” she said.
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