Bulgaria votes for president in the shadow of Russia's war and Black Sea drone strikes

Bulgarians went to the polls on Sunday, 25 October, to elect a president after a campaign dominated by economic hardship and drone attacks on merchant ships off the country’s Black Sea coast, AP and Reuters reported.

The front-runners

Acting president Iliana Iotova, 61, and former caretaker prime minister Andrey Gyurov, 50, led a field of 27 candidates. An Alpha Research poll put Iotova at 41% and Gyurov at 28%. Iotova became acting president in January after Rumen Radev resigned to run for parliament — a race he won on what many analysts considered a Kremlin-friendly ticket. Radev backs Iotova, and both call for a diplomatic end to the war. Gyurov is backed by pro-Western reformist parties, has long supported Ukraine and signed a security cooperation agreement with Kyiv as premier.

War on the doorstep

A series of drone strikes on ships off Bulgaria likely killed about two dozen international seafarers. The government has not explicitly blamed Russia, but Radev said the outcome “benefits the Russian Federation”. Pollster Dobromir Zhivkov of Market Links told AP that Iotova’s camp calls for ending aid and arms deliveries to Ukraine and often uses terminology borrowed from Kremlin propaganda.

Likely run-off

The presidency is largely ceremonial, but the president commands the armed forces, can veto laws and signs treaties. With turnout expected below 40% — short of the 50% required for a first-round win — a run-off is likely on 1 November.