Bulgarians are voting on Sunday in a closely fought presidential runoff between acting President Iliana Iotova and former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, in an election shaped by the war in Ukraine, recent attacks on commercial ships in the Black Sea, and years of political instability at home.
Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time and are due to close at 8 p.m., with voting allowed to continue until 9 p.m. at stations where people are still waiting in line. No winner has been declared yet: the result will only become clear after polls close and counting begins.
The runoff was forced after neither candidate won outright in the first round on October 25. Iotova, running with Kiril Valchev, took 34.8 percent of the vote, narrowly ahead of Gyurov and his running mate Georgi Kandev on 32 percent, according to Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission.
That three-point gap was far smaller than opinion polls had suggested. Surveys before the first round had pointed to a lead of around 20 percentage points for Iotova, so the closeness of the result has turned the second round into a genuinely open contest.
What happened
Bulgaria returned to the polls on November 1 for the second round of its presidential election. Twenty-seven candidates stood in the first round, but under Bulgarian electoral rules a candidate must win more than half of the valid votes, with turnout above 50 percent of registered voters, to win in the first round. Neither condition was met, so the top two tickets advanced to the runoff.
Turnout in the first round was about 22.5 percent, the lowest in Bulgaria’s post-communist history. Some reports round the figure to 23 percent. Either way, fewer than one in four eligible voters cast a ballot, a striking figure for a country choosing its head of state.
The low turnout is itself part of the story of this election. Sociologist Boriana Dimitrova told AFP that some voters may have stayed away because they assumed an Iotova victory was already certain, while others were disappointed with the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Rumen Radev. Dimitrova expects turnout to rise in the runoff precisely because the race is now so close: when a contest looks competitive, she said, interest rises with it.
The two candidates
Iotova, 62, is a former journalist and former member of the European Parliament. She was elected vice-president alongside Radev in 2016 and again in 2021, and she took over as president in January this year after Radev resigned to enter parliamentary politics. She is backed by Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria party and is seeking a full presidential mandate. If she wins, she would become Bulgaria’s first elected female president.
Gyurov, 50, is an economist and a former deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank. He served as caretaker prime minister before the parliamentary election in April and is backed by pro-Western opposition parties. After the first round, he described the runoff as a choice “between two personalities, two directions, and two ways of exercising presidential powers”.
The presidency carries real but limited powers. The president represents Bulgaria internationally, serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and can veto legislation. The president does not run the day-to-day government — that is the prime minister’s job — which is why the foreign-policy tone of the presidency, rather than domestic legislation, has dominated this campaign.
Why Russia and Ukraine dominate the campaign
Both candidates support Bulgaria’s membership of the European Union and NATO. Where they differ sharply is on Russia and the war in Ukraine.
Iotova has presented herself as a “president of peace”. She favours negotiations with Moscow and opposes further military assistance to Ukraine. In a televised debate before the runoff, she said: “Peace can come only through negotiations.” She added that pouring more money into Ukraine and supplying newer and more sophisticated weapons leads only to more destruction and deaths on both sides.
Gyurov has taken a stronger pro-Western position and has criticised Radev’s foreign policy. In the same debate, he criticised Iotova for failing to directly blame Russia for the Black Sea attacks, saying: “Russia must stop its aggression so that the next steps can be taken. Let us name the country from which the threats are coming.”
The debate sharpened after a series of attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea off Bulgaria’s coast in October left 21 people missing. The incidents raised fears that the Russia-Ukraine war could spill over into the maritime territory of a NATO member state.
Radev has said the attacks appeared to serve Russian interests and summoned the Russian ambassador, while his government has said there is so far no evidence directly linking the attacks to Moscow. That careful position is itself contested: political analyst Teodor Slavev told AFP that voters were giving their verdict on what he called Iotova’s unconvincing response to Russian threats in the Black Sea.
After the first round, Radev framed the election as a choice between “peace and war” and urged voters to back Iotova so that Bulgaria could be in safe hands. Iotova has also promised to address what she calls the terrible issue of poverty in the EU’s poorest member state — a reminder that, for many voters, the cost of living matters as much as foreign policy.
Background: years of instability
The presidential contest follows years of political instability in Bulgaria. The country has held eight parliamentary elections since April 2021, including seven early elections, as parties repeatedly struggled to assemble stable governing coalitions. Failed coalition talks led to caretaker cabinets and still more elections.
The latest parliamentary election, in April, gave Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria 131 of the 240 seats in the National Assembly, an outright majority. Yet the narrow presidential first-round result has raised questions about how firm that support is, and whether voters who backed the party in April are as enthusiastic about its presidential candidate.
The campaign has also been marked by a dispute over fairness. The opposition has accused Radev of using state resources and his office to campaign for Iotova, in breach of electoral law. The Central Election Commission rejected the allegations, but Gyurov’s campaign team is appealing the decision in court. That dispute has not stopped the vote, but it adds to the scrutiny the result will face.
Why it matters
Bulgaria is a small country with an outsized strategic position: an EU and NATO member on the Black Sea, historically close to Russia and now deeply divided over its relationship with Moscow. The president’s voice on Ukraine, on NATO, and on relations with Russia therefore carries weight beyond Bulgaria’s borders, even though the president does not control the government.
A win for Iotova would confirm a presidency that stresses negotiation and restraint on military aid, in line with Radev’s own line. A win for Gyurov would put a firmly pro-Western voice in the presidency and signal a sharper break with that approach. Either way, the result will be read in Brussels, in Kyiv, and in Moscow as a measure of where Bulgarian voters stand.
The result will also be read at home as a test of political engagement. If turnout rises sharply from the first round’s record low, it will suggest that a close race can still draw voters back. If it stays low, it will underline the disillusionment that has accompanied years of repeated elections.
What happens next
Once polls close, counting will begin and early results are expected to emerge during the evening. The winning ticket will take over the presidency for a full term, with the new president’s first tests likely to be foreign-policy statements on Ukraine and the Black Sea, and the use of the presidential veto in domestic politics.
Related coverage: the Coalition of the Willing’s London talks on tougher Russia sanctions and more long-range weapons for Ukraine show how Bulgaria’s neighbours and allies are approaching the same war from a different direction. In Serbia, where a snap election also produced a historic upset, voters recently delivered their own verdict on an incumbent. You can find more international coverage in our World section.
Timeline
- January 2026: Rumen Radev resigns as president to enter parliamentary politics; Iliana Iotova, his vice-president, takes over as acting president.
- April 2026: Progressive Bulgaria, led by Radev, wins 131 of 240 seats in the National Assembly, an outright majority.
- October 2026: A series of attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea off Bulgaria’s coast leaves 21 people missing and pushes maritime security to the centre of the presidential campaign.
- October 25, 2026: First round of the presidential election. Iotova and Kiril Valchev win 34.8 percent; Gyurov and Georgi Kandev win 32 percent. Turnout is about 22.5 percent, a post-communist low. Twenty-seven candidates stood.
- November 1, 2026: Presidential runoff. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. local time, with voting extended to 9 p.m. where queues remain. No winner declared yet at the time of writing.
Frequently asked questions
Who is standing in Bulgaria’s presidential runoff?
Acting President Iliana Iotova, running with Kiril Valchev, faces former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, running with Georgi Kandev.
Why is there a runoff?
Neither ticket won more than half of the valid votes in the first round on October 25, with turnout below 50 percent, so the top two tickets advanced to a second round under Bulgarian electoral rules.
What were the first-round results?
Iotova and Valchev won 34.8 percent of the vote, ahead of Gyurov and Kandev on 32 percent, according to the Central Election Commission.
When do polls close?
Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time on November 1 and are due to close at 8 p.m., with voting allowed until 9 p.m. at stations where voters are still in line.
What does the Bulgarian president do?
The president represents the country internationally, serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and can veto legislation. The prime minister runs the day-to-day government.
Why does this election matter beyond Bulgaria?
Bulgaria is an EU and NATO member on the Black Sea, and the two candidates offer sharply different approaches to Russia and the war in Ukraine, so the result will be watched in Brussels, Kyiv and Moscow.