The Progressive Bulgaria (PB) party, led by former President Rumen Radev, has emerged as the clear frontrunner in Bulgaria’s parliamentary elections. After counting approximately 68 percent of the votes, PB secured a lead with over 44 percent of the vote. A two-way race for second place is currently underway between the conservative GERB party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov (13 percent) and the reformist coalition PP-DB (14 percent). On election night, Radev stated his readiness to form a coalition but did not rule out the possibility of a single-party government.
Radev, who resigned from the presidency in January after nine years to run in the elections, had previously supported the anti-corruption protests in Bulgaria in December. He pledged to abolish what he calls the “oligarchic government model”. Bulgaria has suffered from unstable parliaments in recent years, with coalitions failing to last more than a year since 2021. The former president has been frequently accused of adopting a pro-Russian stance, notably calling for the restoration of ties with Moscow and criticizing weapon deliveries to Ukraine. He also objected to the ten-year defense agreement signed between Bulgaria and Ukraine in March.
