Bulgaria’s President Iliana Iotova, who favours dialogue with Moscow and opposes military aid to Ukraine, won a presidential runoff vote on Sunday (November 1, 2026), exit polls showed.
asserted
polls → favour → Sunday
The vote took place amid security concerns in the EU and NATO member states following a series of drone attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea.
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vote → take → Sea
The race for the largely ceremonial post pitted Ms. Iotova, an ally of Prime Minister Rumen Radev, against Andrey Gyurov, a banker and former caretaker Prime Minister backed by the pro-Western opposition.
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race → pit → opposition
Ms. Iotova is projected to receive between 50.7% and 52.5% of the vote, compared to between 43.4% and 44% for Mr. Gyurov, according to three different exit polls.
uncertain
Iotova → project → polls
Ms. Iotova took over the post of president earlier this year from Mr. Radev, with Sunday’s (November 1, 2026) vote putting her on track to become the first elected woman president in the country of 6.4 million people.
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vote → take → people
Several vessels were struck in the Black Sea off Bulgaria in October, leaving 21 people missing, in suspected spillover from the Russia-Ukraine war.
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vessels → strike → war
While centre-left Mr. Radev has said the attacks appeared to serve Russian interests and summoned the Russian ambassador, his government insists there is so far no evidence directly linking them to Moscow.
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government → say → Moscow
At a polling station in Sofia, 64-year-old teacher Krassimira Kostova said she voted despite dissatisfaction with both candidates.
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she → say → candidates
“I don’t like either of the two candidates, but I don’t like the return of communism we’ve been seeing in recent years either.
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we → like → years
That’s why I came to vote,” she told AFP.
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she → ’ → AFP
Petar Doitchinov, a 67-year-old retired engineer, said he had skipped the first round because he expected a runoff.
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he → say → runoff
He said he voted for “the lesser evil”, as neither candidate matched his “vision of democracy”.
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candidate → say → democracy
In the first round of voting last week, Iotova took 35%, with Mr. Gyurov on 32% — a much narrower gap than the 20-point lead for Iotova predicted by opinion polls.
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Iotova → take → polls
The first round recorded turnout of 2%, and election officials were expecting higher participation in the runoff.
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officials → record → runoff
After voting in Sofia, Ms. Iotova, 62, said she wanted “Bulgaria to be strong in a strong Europe” and remain “sovereign in its decisions”.
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Bulgaria → vote → decisions
A longtime ally of Mr. Radev, she supports Bulgaria’s EU and NATO membership while arguing that peace in Ukraine can be achieved only through negotiations.
Mr. Gyurov, 50, said after voting in Blagoevgrad that he had voted for a “secure, stable and European Bulgaria”.
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he → support → Bulgaria
In a television debate before the runoff, Mr. Gyurov criticised Ms. Iotova for not explicitly blaming Russia for the Black Sea attacks.
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Gyurov → criticise → attacks
“Russia must stop its aggression so that the next steps can be taken,” said Mr. Gyurov, a former deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank.
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Gyurov → stop → Bank
Ms. Iotova maintained that “peace can come only through negotiations”.
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peace → maintain → negotiations
Mr. Radev has also argued that a ceasefire and peace talks offer the best chance of preventing further attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea.
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ceasefire → argue → Sea
He has presented Iotova as a pair of “safe hands”.
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He → present → hands
A former journalist and member of the European Parliament, Iotova was elected vice-president alongside Mr. Radev in 2016 and 2021.
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Iotova → elect → 2016
She took over as president this year when Mr. Radev stepped down to run in parliamentary elections.
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Radev → take → elections
Historically close to Russia, Bulgaria remains deeply divided over its relationship with Moscow.
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Bulgaria → remain → Moscow
The Aporia
