Acting President Iliana Iotova is the apparent winner of Bulgaria’s presidential runoff held on Sunday, 1 November 2026, after her rival conceded defeat. If the result is confirmed, she would become Bulgaria’s first elected female head of state.
Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission released official preliminary vote-counting data showing Iotova and her vice-presidential running mate Kiril Valchev on 57.636 percent of the vote, more than 1.077 million votes, with 98.43 percent of polling-station protocols processed as of 3:00 a.m. local time. Their opponents, Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev, stood at 39.402 percent, about 736,000 votes. Final election results are expected to be announced no later than 4 November.
Gyurov, a banker and former caretaker prime minister backed by the pro-Western opposition, said the results had to be accepted as they stood, telling reporters: “This is how the Bulgarian citizens have voted.”
The presidency is a largely ceremonial post. The runoff pitted Iotova, a longtime ally of Prime Minister Rumen Radev who took over as acting president in January after Radev resigned to run in parliamentary elections, against Gyurov. Iotova favours dialogue with Moscow and opposes military aid to Ukraine, while supporting Bulgaria’s EU and NATO membership and arguing that peace in Ukraine can come only through negotiations. After voting, she said she wanted “Bulgaria to be strong in a strong Europe” and “sovereign in its decisions”.
The vote took place against the backdrop of a series of drone attacks on commercial vessels off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast in October, which left 21 people missing and are suspected to be spillover from Russia’s war on Ukraine. Both candidates condemned the attacks and called for a diplomatic end to the war.
Turnout in the second round was put at about 27 to 29 percent, slightly higher than the first round last week, which recorded a record-low turnout of 23 percent. In that first round, Iotova won 35 percent against Gyurov’s 32 percent. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Iotova, saying she looked forward to continuing joint work on security, defence, competitiveness and energy independence.
Sources: Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/1/bulgarian-president-yotova-leads-runoff-exit-polls-show) and Trend.Az (https://www.trend.az/world/4241734.html).
Note: The featured image on this post is a stock illustration only and is not a photograph of the election or of the candidates.
