The restoration of political stability is reflected in the triumph of Rumen Radev in yesterday’s elections in Bulgaria.
After a period of previous political instability with successive changes of government (caretaker or minority) and eight elections in the last five years, citizens voted for the man identified with the only stable political institution in the country.
Mr. Radef, a former pilot and former commander of the Bulgarian Air Force, was elected president in 2017 and re-elected in 2021. Although the institution has limited powers, he de facto enriched them by capitalizing on protests and popular discontent over domestic corruption. As a product of time, he built a profile of a polymath for the corrupt and oligarchs.
At the end of 2025, citizens once again took to the streets, protesting tax increases as well as new corruption scandals. President Radev “winked” at the protesters, while demanding the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Rosen Zeliazkov, which the latter accepted.
The Bulgarian president gave the mandate to form a government to three pro-European parties in succession. They all refused. Then he made the move-mate. On 19 January he announced his resignation from the presidency, announcing the creation of the “Progressive Bulgaria” party, through which he pledged to pull the country out of the morass of governance by fighting the “mafia” within state structures.
Three months later, on April 19, Mr. Radev scored an effective electoral victory with 44.46%. The figure gives him 130 seats (out of 240 in the parliament), an unprecedented parliamentary majority and an independent government.
Second by 13,4% and 39 seats was the centre-right GERB-SDS of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and PP-DB (Continuing Change – Democratic Bulgaria) came third with 12.6% and 37 seats. DPS, the Turkish minority party, came fourth with 7.1% (21 seats) and the nationalist Vazrazhdane came fifth with 4.3% (13 seats). The entry threshold to the Bulgarian parliament is 4%.
While his “dots” are coming out, Mr. Radev is seeking to form a cooperation government, probably with the PP-DB (of former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov), in order to implement important reforms, such as the judicial system, which require a parliamentary majority of 2/3 (160 seats).
In Athens, some conclusions have already been drawn about the electoral process in the neighbouring, EU partner and NATO ally. The return of stability to a neighbouring country with which there are close ties and at the bilateral level – as reflected in the recent Greek mobilisation for the protection of the Bulgarian air defence – is in principle a positive development.
In addition, the Greek “radar” recorded the apparent weakening of the Turkish factor in Bulgarian political affairs. After the split of the DHS in 2024, the party remained under Delian Peevski (it is under US sanctions due to corruption allegations) and its historical leader, Ahmet Dogan, left to found the APS. However, he did not succeed in entering parliament.
Recall that Mr. Peevski had a regulatory role in the last minority government under Borisov’s GERB.
As for Greece, Mr. Radev, during his presidency – according to highly informed sources – was very friendly and contributed in his own way to the deepening of bilateral relations, as he believes substantially in the importance of cooperation. According to the same line of information, the newly elected prime minister in Sofia is said to fully share Greek views on Angara’s destabilizing role in the region.
In addition, regarding the “pro-Russian” and “new Orban” characterizations that some attribute to Mr. Greek senior officials stressed that he is a European, pro-NATO politician (he studied in American military schools) “who has a sense of international balance of power and the need not to exclude Russia”.
