Iliana Yotova Wins Bulgarian Presidential Election

Bulgaria's current president, Iliana Yotova, who takes a more favourable stance toward Russia than her opponents, has won the second round of the presidential election. According to exit polls, she and her vice-presidential running mate Kiril Vilchev received about 58% of the vote. Their rival, former prime minister Andrey Gyurov, seen as a pro-European politician, and his running mate Georgi Kandev got about 39%, Bulgarian media reported.

If the results are confirmed, Yotova will become the first woman to win a presidential election in Bulgaria. In January this year she took over as head of state after Rumen Radev resigned early, moving from the post of vice president to exercise presidential powers.

Gyurov concedes

Andrey Gyurov has already admitted defeat. He said he accepts the result, although it came as a surprise to him. In his words, Bulgaria faces "hard times", but the country must look for ways to unite in order to tackle common tasks. "Nothing was in vain, and the best is yet to come; we have created a good foundation for development," Gyurov said.

Projected turnout in the runoff was 27.2%, only slightly above the record-low turnout of 23% in the first round.

First-round results

In the first round on 25 October, none of the 27 candidates won the required majority. Yotova received 34.76% of the vote, Gyurov 31.95%, and Kostadin Kostadinov, a representative of the nationalist party Revival, won 12.54%.

Significance for foreign policy

The election is considered key for Bulgaria's foreign policy, particularly regarding Russia's war against Ukraine and Sofia's relations with Moscow. Yotova is a former journalist and former member of the European Parliament from the Social Democrats group. Like her predecessor Radev, she holds a position more favourable toward Russia than her political opponents. Gyurov represented pro-European positions and had the backing of the liberal-conservative opposition.

The Bulgarian president is elected for five years and may serve no more than two terms. To win in the first round, a candidate needs more than half of the votes with turnout of at least 50%. Otherwise, a runoff is held between the two candidates with the most support in the first round.