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Bulgaria votes as pro-Russian former president leads the polls
Opinion polls put Rumen Radev’s coalition at 35% as voters seek an end to corruption and political deadlock.
- On Sunday, April 19, 2026, Bulgarians cast ballots in their eighth parliamentary election in five years, with pro-Russian former President Rumen Radev's Progressive Bulgaria polling at about 35% as the clear frontrunner.
- Radev, who stepped down as president in January, campaigns on a pledge to dismantle what he terms the country's "oligarchic governance model" following years of political instability and fragile coalitions since 2021.
- Sofia-Based Alpha Research forecasts turnout around 60%, nearly double the 34% recorded in 2024, while police seized more than €1 million in cash to curb vote-buying ahead of the election.
- Trailing in second place with about 18%, former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's GERB party contests Radev, whom opponents criticize for pursuing "practical relations with Russia" and opposing Ukraine military aid.
- Analyst Mario Bikarski of Verisk Maplecroft warned any coalition "is likely to suffer from government instability," as voters seek an end to the cycle of snap polls and short-lived governments.
138 Articles
138 Articles
In the early parliamentary election in Bulgaria, pro-Russian ex-President Rumen Radev has predicted a landslide victory. After closing the polling stations on Sunday, Progressive Bulgaria came to 44 percent of the votes in a post-election poll. Radev could even reach a parliamentary majority and achieve one of the strongest results of a single party in the Balkan country for decades. "Pro-gressive Bulgaria has won decisively. This is a victory o…
Survey conducted gives 37.5% of the votes to the Progressive party led by Rumen Radev who should be elected Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
Bulgaria's citizens began voting this Sunday in parliamentary elections marked by political fatigue and uncertainty, the octaves that the country celebrates in just five years.The main favorite is former President Rumen Radev, who resigned from the head of state in January to lead the new centre-left Bulgarian Progressive bloc.According to pre-voting polls, Radev's alliance could get about 35% of the votes, ahead of conservative forces linked to…
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