EU-skeptic Radev pulls ahead in critical Bulgarian election (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
Rumen Radev and Boyko Borissov are competing in a vote that will shape Bulgaria’s relations with Brussels, Kiev, and Moscow
Former Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has extended his lead over former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as the Bulgarian parliamentary election heads into its final stretch. Informal exit polls show Radev more than 20 points ahead of Borissov.
The election is the country’s eighth in five years, and is another flashpoint in the battle between pro-EU and sovereignist political forces in Europe. Borissov’s party is aligned with Brussels’ foreign policy, and he reassured voters on Sunday that his party gives “full support to Ukraine.” Radev has vowed to balance relations between East and West, promising to build a “modern European Bulgaria,” while developing “practical relations with Russia based on mutual respect.”
Radev, who opposes EU aid to Ukraine, has vowed to break the stranglehold of the “oligarchic mafia” on Bulgaria, but whoever wins on Sunday will likely have to form a coalition to reach a majority in Bulgaria’s National Assembly.
Borissov is the country’s longest-serving prime minister, holding office between 2009 and 2021. Radev is a former fighter pilot who served as Bulgaria’s president between 2017 and 2026. The pair publicly clashed during their overlapping stint in power, with Radev backing the 2020 anti-corruption protests that led to Borissov’s downfall.
The country has been run by a succession of short-lived governments and caretaker prime ministers in the years since.
Just as it did in Hungary last weekend, and in France, Germany, Moldova, and Romania beforehand, the EU has activated its ‘Rapid Response System’ in Bulgaria. This suite of online censorship tools gives the European Commission the power to remove so-called “disinformation” from social media platforms during the election.
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