Acting President Iotova would become the country’s first elected head of state if official results confirm her victory. Published November 1, 2026 November 1, 2026 Acting President Iliana Iotova is the apparent winner of Bulgaria’s presidential runoff, according to initial results, as her rival has admitted defeat. Iotova, who advocates dialogue with Russia and opposes military aid to Ukraine, received 58 percent of the vote in Sunday’s runoff, according to various counts by polling agencies.Recommended stories list of 3 itemsend of listIf official results confirm it, she would become the first elected head of state in Bulgaria.Her opponent, former interim prime minister Andrey Gyurov, is said to be trailing with around 38 percent.Gyurov, which is backed by the pro-Western opposition, said the results should be accepted as they were. “This is how Bulgarian citizens voted,” she said. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Iotova in a post on X. “From security and defense to our competitiveness and energy independence, I look forward to continuing our work together,” she said. Exit polls put voter turnout between 27 and 29 percent, slightly higher than last week’s first-round race, which had a record 23 percent turnout. ceremonial.Iotova, 61, took over as interim president in January, when her former ally, Prime Minister Rumen Radev, resigned to run and win a parliamentary election. “I don’t like either candidate,” Krassimira Kostova, a 64-year-old teacher from the capital Sofia, who voted anyway, told the AFP news agency. Petar Doitchinov, a 67-year-old retired engineer, said he had skipped the first round last week because he was expecting a second round. He said he voted for “the lesser evil” since none of the candidates matched his “vision of democracy.” The vote comes as 21 people remain missing following a series of drone attacks last month on commercial vessels off the country’s Black Sea coast. They are suspected to be consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Prime Minister Radev has said the attacks appear to serve Moscow’s interests and summoned the Russian ambassador, although his government said there was no evidence linking them directly to Moscow. Both presidential candidates condemned the attacks and called for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine. Gyurov, a banker and former interim prime minister, criticized Iotova in a television debate for not explicitly blaming Russia. “Russia must stop its aggression so that the next steps can be taken,” he said. Iotova stated that “peace can only be achieved through negotiations.” After voting, he said he wanted “Bulgaria to be strong in a strong Europe” and “sovereign in its decisions.” In the first round of voting last week, Iotova won 35 percent, with Gyurov 32 percent, a much smaller difference than the 20 points that opinion polls had predicted for Iotova. Political analyst Teodor Slavev told the AFP news agency that voters were judging “Iotova’s unconvincing response to Russian threats in the Black Sea.”
