Bulgaria votes as Iotova leads presidential race with 41%-47%

Bulgaria voted Sunday in a presidential election, with incumbent Iliana Iotova leading surveys at 41%-47%, according to a Deutsche Welle news report published Oct. 25.

The race matters beyond a mostly ceremonial office because Prime Minister Rumen Radev’s ally is ahead of Andrey Gyurov, polling at 28%-31%, as Bulgaria debates Ukraine, Russia and Black Sea security.

Polling stations were open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time, or 0500-1800 GMT, DW reported.

Exit polling was due after voting ended, with official results expected within 48 hours.

Iotova, 62, became president this year after Radev left the post and won power in parliamentary elections, according to the report. DW said she supports dialogue with Moscow as a route to peace in Ukraine and opposes military support for Kyiv.

Gyurov, 50, is a former caretaker prime minister backed by the pro-Western opposition, DW reported. The report described him as a critic of Radev’s foreign policy and a supporter of Bulgaria’s Euro-Atlantic alignment as an EU and NATO member.

Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of the pro-Russian far-right Vazrazhdane party, was in third place with 10%-13% support in surveys, according to DW. The first round has 27 president-and-vice-president candidate pairs, and DW reported that nearly half are openly pro-Kremlin.

The presidency in Bulgaria has limited day-to-day executive power, but the office can matter during instability. The president is commander-in-chief, can veto legislation and may appoint caretaker governments when political crises prevent a regular cabinet from operating.

The campaign has been shaped by the war in Ukraine after four merchant vessels were allegedly struck by drones off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast this month, DW reported. The report described the incidents as suspected spillover from the conflict, not as confirmed attacks by a named state.

DW also reported that Starlink satellite internet antennas near Sofia were set on fire. Starlink has become significant for Ukraine’s defense communications, and Atlas360 reported on Oct. 25 that SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk said Starlink was not allowed for offensive drone strikes and that a system gap had been closed last week.

Radev has said the Black Sea incidents appeared to benefit Russia and summoned the Russian ambassador, according to DW. His government has not directly accused Moscow of responsibility, leaving attribution of the incidents unresolved.

Domestic pressures are also part of the election. DW reported that candidates have addressed energy costs, inflation, corruption concerns and repeated coalition breakdowns in a country it described as the EU’s poorest member state.

On Oct. 25, exit polls were due after polling stations closed at 8 p.m. local time, offering the first indication of whether Iotova could win outright.

By Oct. 27, official results were expected within 48 hours of the close of voting, according to DW.

On Nov. 1, a run-off is scheduled if no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first round. DW reported that Iotova and Gyurov are widely expected to be the two contenders if a second round is required.