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Bulgaria Election Results 2026
Vote share distribution among the top parties.
Primary Sources
Bulgaria election: Ex-President Radev claims 'victory' after early results
Ex-PM Boyko Borissov congratulates Radev, cautioning that ‘winning elections is one thing, governing is another’.Bulgaria’s former President Rumen Radev hailed a “victory of hope” after preliminary official results showed his coalition had won the country’s parliamentary election.Bulgarians cast their ballots on Sunday for the eighth time in five years, after mass protests led to the removal of the previous conservative government in December last year.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3DRC government, M23 rebels commit to protecting civilians, aid deliverieslist 2 of 3Israeli ministers celebrate re-establishment of Sa-Nur West Bank settlementlist 3 of 3Trump says US seized Iranian ship trying to get past blockade near Hormuzend of listRadev’s Progressive Bulgaria party had won 44.7 percent of the vote with 91.7 percent of ballots counted, putting it on course to govern alone, although he has not ruled out forming a coalition with a pro-European bloc or a smaller party.The result placed Progressive Bulgaria well ahead of the pro-European We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition on 13.2 percent, while the once-dominant GERB party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov stood at 13.4 percent.“PB has won unequivocally – a victory of hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear,” Radev told reporters outside his party’s headquarters in Sofia.Borissov congratulated Radev but cautioned that “winning elections is one thing, governing is another”.Former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov casts his vote in a polling station in Bankya, Bulgaria, on April 19, 2026 [Valentina Petrova/AP Photo]Radev, a left-leaning eurosceptic, stepped down from the presidency in January, after nine years, to launch his bid to become prime minister. He had backed the anticorruption protests that saw hundreds of thousands of largely young people take to the streets in December, and promised to get rid of the “oligarchic governance model”.“We will do everything possible not to allow us to go [to elections] again. It is ruinous for Bulgaria,” Radev told reporters after the exit poll was released. “We are ready to consider different options so that Bulgaria can have a regular and stable government.”The Balkan country has seen fragmented parliaments in recent years, with coalitions failing to last more than a year since 2021.Turnout exceeded 50 percent, the highest since April 2021, according to polling agency Market Links. Authorities had urged voters to cas...
Bulgaria's Kremlin-friendly former president Radev wins parliamentary ...
Bulgarian ex-president Rumen Radev, an EU critic who has called for renewing ties with Russia, took an absolute majority in parliamentary elections that could spell an end to the country's half-decade of political uncertainty, according to near complete vote results on Monday. The European Union's poorest member has experienced eight votes since 2021, when anti-graft rallies brought down the conservative administration of long-time pro-European leader Boyko Borissov. Radev, 62, who resigned earlier this year after nine years as president, ran in Sunday's vote on a pledge to fight corruption, bringing together a wide spectrum of voters, with the turnout the highest since 2021. Radev's Progressive Bulgaria grouping secured 44.7 percent in Sunday's vote, according to official results with 91.7 percent of the votes counted, putting him on course to gain some 130 seats in the 240-seat parliament. The landslide victory marks the first outright parliamentary majority for a single formation in Bulgaria since 1997 when a centre-right, pro-European grouping won. Borissov's GERB party slumped to 13.4 percent of the vote, running neck and neck with the liberal PP-DB coalition, which stood at 13.2 percent, according to the electoral commission's results. The far-right Vazrazhdane party and the Turkish and Roma minority party MRF also made it into parliament, according to the near-complete vote count. 'Victory of hope' "PB has won unequivocally – a victory of hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear," Radev told reporters outside his group's office in Sofia on Sunday as projections trickled in. He said Bulgaria would "make every effort to continue on its European path". "But believe me, a strong Bulgaria and a strong Europe need critical thinking and pragmatism. Europe has fallen victim to its own ambition to be a moral leader in a world with new rules," the former air force general added. Radev has said he wants to rid the Balkan nation of 6.5 million people of its "oligarchic governance model". He supported anti-corruption protests last year that brought down the latest conservative-backed government. While Radev can govern on its own, "the real question" is whether he will take "real steps" against high-level corruption, including through reforms of the judiciary, political analyst Teodor Slavev said. For key judicial or constitutional changes requiring a two-thirds majority, he will need to find support in parliament from other parties. 'Eurosceptic' path ...
Rumen Radev wins Bulgarian Parliamentary election - BBC
Rumen Radev's Progressive Bulgaria (PB) party has won a landslide victory in Sunday's Bulgarian election - the eighth general election in five years. With almost 100% of the vote counted, his PB ...
Ex-President Rumen Radev Claims Parliamentary Majority in Bulgarian ...
Former President Rumen Radev is on course for a landslide win with his freshly formed Progressive Bulgaria party, vowing to tackle poverty and oligarchic power - but raising questions with his ...
