Iliana Yotova wins the second round of Bulgaria's presidential election according to exit polls

Yotova confidently leads in the runoff

Bulgaria's incumbent president Iliana Yotova, according to exit polls, is winning a convincing victory in the second round of the presidential election held on Sunday. Parallel counts by the five largest polling agencies give her between 56.6% and 58.2% of the vote, while her rival Andrey Gyurov receives between 38.6% and 40.6%. This is reported by Anadolu.

Recognition of the result and campaign context

At a press conference in Sofia, Gyurov stated: “We accept the results, however unexpected they may be,” adding that although the campaign is ending, responsibility remains. Yotova, a longtime figure of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, improved on her first-round result from last weekend, when she received 34.76% against Gyurov's 31.95%. Her campaign emphasized refusing additional arms supplies to Ukraine and called for peace through a diplomatic solution — in contrast to her rival.

Political background

The election took place after the April parliamentary elections, in which “Progressive Bulgaria,” led by former president Rumen Radev, won 131 of 240 seats in the National Assembly — an absolute majority. Yotova, who previously served as vice president under Radev, took charge of the country as acting president after his resignation in January; the party backed her bid for a full five-year mandate. Gyurov, a former deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, warned during the campaign that a Yotova victory would leave the top of state power without any real counterbalance, since “Progressive Bulgaria” already controls the government. According to him, the government's vacillation, reduced support for Ukraine, and slow coordination with NATO and EU partners make Bulgaria more vulnerable and turn it into a weak link on the alliance's eastern flank.