Bulgaria’s pro-Kremlin ex-president wins election, Russia and EU welcome victory
Rumen Radev has criticised military support for Ukraine’s war effort and the European Union’s heavy reliance on renewable energy
The performance, exceeding opinion poll forecasts, is one of the strongest results for a single party in a generation and may end, for now, the chronic instability that led to eight elections in five years.
Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria party had 44.7 per cent of the vote after 97.52 per cent of ballots were counted, suggesting it could rule alone, but he has not ruled out a coalition with a pro-European group or a smaller party.
Progressive Bulgaria’s tally put it far ahead of the pro-European We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition with 12.8 per cent and the long-dominant GERB party, led by former prime minister Boyko Borissov, at 13.4 per cent.
He rode a wave of frustration with political instability in the Balkan nation of 6.5 million, where voters are sick of corruption and veteran parties that have dominated politics for decades.