Pro-Russian voters could decide Bulgaria's presidential runoff in November
Bulgarians will vote on October 25 for a new president, with a likely second-round face-off between acting President Iliana Iotova and pro-EU candidate Andrey Gyurov.
On October 25, Bulgaria will hold a presidential election that revives the country’s historic East-West divide. Acting President Iliana Iotova leads the first-round field, enjoying support from President Rumen Radev’s ruling Progressive Bulgaria, the pro-Kremlin Bulgarian Socialist Party and the nationalist VMRO-BND. Former interim prime minister Andrey Gyurov, positioned as a pro-EU, Western-oriented contender, is backed by the centre-right opposition We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria.
Apart from Gyurov and former agriculture minister Ivan Hristanov, the remaining candidates run on Eurosceptic or nationalist platforms that often border on Russia-sympathetic sentiment. Experts suggest that while pro-Russian voters may scatter among various challengers in the initial vote, they are likely to shift to Iotova in a second-round contest against a pro-EU rival such as Gyurov in early November.
Why it matters
The election could shape Bulgaria's alignment between the EU and Russia, influencing regional geopolitics.
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