Pro-Russian ex-president returns to power in Bulgaria

Rumen Radev

Bulgaria’s former president, Rumen Radev, looks set for a big comeback. With about 60% of the ballots counted, his Progressive Bulgaria coalition is pulling in 44.6% of the vote—way ahead of what the polls predicted. This puts him in a position to form a government on his own, or at least lead a strong minority. Still, Radev hasn’t dismissed the idea of teaming up with pro-European or smaller parties.

On the other side, the pro-European alliance “Continuing Change - Democratic Bulgaria” (PP-DB) sits at 14.2%, and GERB, the party led by long-time political figure Boyko Borisov, is at 13%.

“This is a victory of hope over distrust, of freedom over fear and, finally, of morality, if you will,” Radev told supporters just before the final results came in.

Radev built his popularity on his Eurosceptic views and his opposition to military help for Ukraine. Before all this, he was a military pilot and only stepped down as president in January to run for parliament. He actually got his shot after mass protests forced the last government out in December.

Bulgarians have taken to the streets over and over since late last year. It started with outrage over the government’s proposed 2026 budget, but soon spiraled into anger about economic mismanagement and corruption. All that pressure finally pushed the government to resign.

It’s been a rocky road for Bulgarian politics lately. This April’s election was actually the country’s eighth in just five years.