{"id":18608,"date":"2026-04-20T23:01:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T23:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/18608\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T23:01:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T23:01:30","slug":"ex-president-rumen-radevs-coalition-triumphs-in-bulgaria-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/18608\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-president Rumen Radev’s coalition triumphs in Bulgaria vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) \u2014 The center-left coalition of ex-president Rumen Radev<\/a> has emerged as the clear winner of Bulgaria\u2019s parliamentary election, the country\u2019s central electoral commission said Monday, ending half a decade of political fragmentation. <\/p>\n

With all the ballots counted on Monday, results showed the Progressive Bulgaria coalition receiving 44.6% of the vote, some 30 percentage points ahead of the center-right GERB party of veteran leader Boyko Borissov<\/a> and the pro-Western reformist bloc led by the We Continue the Change<\/a> party. Those parties ran almost neck and neck, scoring 13.4% and 12.6% respectively. Borissov conceded defeat and congratulated Radev.<\/p>\n

Two other parties also appear to have gained seats in the 240-seat chamber, according to the latest results.<\/p>\n

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Monday congratulated Radev on his election victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cBulgaria is a proud member of the European family and plays an important role in tackling our common challenges. I look forward to working together, for the prosperity and security of Bulgaria and Europe,\u201d she posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n

Radev promises a \u201cEuropean path\u201d but with conditions<\/p>\n

Radev described his party\u2019s victory as unequivocal, a \u201cvictory of hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear,\u201d saying Bulgaria would \u201cmake every effort to continue on its European path\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut believe me, a strong Bulgaria and a strong Europe need critical thinking and pragmatism. Europe has fallen victim to its own ambition to be a moral leader in a world without rules,\u201d Radev told reporters.<\/p>\n

During his presidency, Radev gained a reputation as being sympathetic to Russia. He repeatedly opposed EU efforts to send military aid to Ukraine for its war against Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion. He has often argued that supporting Ukraine risks drawing Bulgaria into the war and has favored reopening talks with Russia as a way out of the conflict. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Maria Simeonova, head of the Sofia Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that although as president Radev often expressed pro-Russian statements, prompting comparisons to a \u201cnew Orb\u00e1n,\u201d given his landslide victory at home, he is likely to now seek external legitimacy through building relationships with other European leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cRadev is unlikely to openly adopt an Orb\u00e1n-style rhetoric, at least in his engagement with European counterparts. His criticism \u2014 particularly regarding financial and military support for Ukraine or sanctions against Russia \u2014 will be aimed primarily at the domestic audience,\u201d said Simeonova.<\/p>\n

Radev left the presidency to bid to be prime minister<\/p>\n

Radev resigned from the mostly ceremonial presidency<\/a> in January, a few months before the end of his second term, to launch a bid to lead the government in the more powerful role as prime minister.<\/p>\n

The 62-year-old former fighter pilot earned a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the U.S. Air War College in 2003, before being appointed Bulgarian air force commander. His supporters are divided between those hoping he will put an end to the country\u2019s oligarchic corruption and those lining up behind his euroskeptic and Russia-friendly views. <\/p>\n

Bulgaria\u2019s previous conservative government collapsed in December after nationwide anti-corruption protests<\/a> drew hundreds of thousands of mainly young people to the streets.<\/p>\n

Radev\u2019s popularity surged as he cast himself as an opponent of the entrenched mafia and their ties to high-ranking politicians. At campaign rallies he vowed to \u201cremove the corrupt, oligarchic model of governance from political power.\u201d<\/p>\n

NATO and EU member Bulgaria has been repeatedly criticized for not tackling corruption and for deficiencies in the rule of law.<\/p>\n

Vessela Tcherneva, Deputy Director of the Berlin-based European Council on Foreign Relations, said that the most important task for Radev\u2019s government will not be foreign policy but rather freeing Bulgarian institutions from the control of Borissov and the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Delyan Peevski, an oligarch sanctioned for corruption by the US and Britain.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor that he would get support from the reformist pro-European coalition We Continue the Change in parliament,\u201d Tcherneva added.<\/p>\n

Maybe this means an end to years of fragmented parliaments<\/p>\n

Since 2021, the nation of 6.5 million has struggled with fragmented parliaments that produced weak governments, none of which managed to survive more than a year before being brought down by street protests or backroom deals in parliament.<\/p>\n

Tired of the seemingly never-ending election roulette, people on the street reacted with mixed feelings to the latest election results.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbove all, we expect a more stable judicial system, and for trust in institutions to truly be restored. Until now, they have been heavily influenced by various figures, many of whom, as we can see from the current results, have now left the government,\u201d said Nikoleta Dimitrova, a 37-year-old shop assistant from Sofia.<\/p>\n

Accountant Cveta Gerogieva, 55, was less optimistic: \u201cI hope that we will really live a better life, but I am not sure that there will be stability for a long period. Probably we will vote again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) \u2014 The center-left coalition of ex-president Rumen Radev has emerged as the clear winner of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[362,11319,7114,3375,286,591,11321,592,50,8,11322,98,9,67,11320,598,11323,7,536,6474,226,106],"class_list":{"0":"post-18608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-2026-elections","9":"tag-boiko-borisov","10":"tag-bulgaria","11":"tag-corruption","12":"tag-elections","13":"tag-europe","14":"tag-european-council","15":"tag-european-union","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-headlines","18":"tag-maria-simeonova","19":"tag-military-and-defense","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-politics","22":"tag-rumen-radev","23":"tag-sanctions-and-embargoes","24":"tag-sofia","25":"tag-top-stories","26":"tag-ukraine","27":"tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","28":"tag-war-and-unrest","29":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116439527269082252","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}