Iliana Iotova has become the first woman elected president of Bulgaria, according to official results released Monday. She won 57.6% of the vote in Sunday’s runoff, while former interim prime minister Andrey Gyurov received 39.5%. Around 2.95% of voters selected the option “I support no one.” The election saw low turnout.
Neither candidate secured the required majority in the first round on October 25. Iotova led with 34.6%, followed by Gyurov on 32%.
Iotova, 61, was vice president and previously served in the European Parliament. She took over as interim president in January after Radev left the office to run in parliamentary elections. Radev supported her presidential bid, and her victory reinforces his political standing.
The election took place amid a series of drone attacks on merchant ships off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast over the past month. The attacks killed at least 24 sailors, drew condemnation abroad and heightened concern about the reach of the war in Ukraine. Both Iotova and Gyurov condemned the attacks; Radev said they benefited Russia.
Radev, a former fighter pilot and critic of the European Union, won April’s parliamentary election with nearly 45% of the vote. Bulgaria had held eight elections in five years, and the previous government fell in December following protests over a budget that proposed tax increases.
Radev opposes military aid to Ukraine and criticized Bulgaria’s adoption of the euro in January. During the campaign, he called for better relations with Moscow and for Russian oil and gas supplies to Europe to resume. He and Iotova support a diplomatic solution to the war.
Gyurov, who served as interim prime minister this year, was backed by reformist and pro-Western parties and has long supported Ukraine. While in office, he signed a security cooperation agreement with Kyiv. In Bulgaria, most decision-making power rests with Parliament.
Sources: Folha Mundo.