Bulgarians began voting on Sunday in a presidential runoff between acting President Iliana Iotova and former caretaker prime minister Andrey Gyurov, a contest marked by growing security threats in the Black Sea and by sharply different views of the war in Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and are scheduled to close at 8 p.m., with voting extended until 9 p.m. where queues remain; exit polls will be published after voting ends, and a result is expected on Monday.
Source: Al Jazeera via 234Radio
Sunday's vote is the runoff the first round made necessary. In the October 25 first round, Iotova took about 35 percent of the vote and Gyurov about 32 percent — neither reaching the 50 percent needed to win outright — on a turnout of just 23 percent, the lowest on record in the EU and NATO member state, election officials said. The gap had narrowed sharply from opinion polls that once projected a 20-point Iotova lead, according to AFP reporting.
The vote is being held against the backdrop of a series of drone attacks on merchant ships off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast over the past month. Several vessels were struck in October, leaving 21 people missing, AFP reported, while Al Jazeera put the number feared dead at about two dozen and noted that a Greek container ship sank on Wednesday after being hit by sea drones. The attacks have prompted the government to seek help from Bulgaria's allies to bolster maritime security, and Al Jazeera reported NATO is to send additional patrol planes to the Black Sea after the attacks.
The two candidates offer opposite answers to that threat. Iotova, 61, who became acting president in January after Rumen Radev resigned to contest a parliamentary race, supports Bulgaria's EU and NATO membership but opposes military assistance to Ukraine and has campaigned on negotiations with Russia. "Pouring more money into Ukraine, supplying new and more sophisticated weapons, leads only to more destruction and the deaths of many people on both sides," she said in a televised debate, according to AFP. A victory would make her Bulgaria's first elected female president.
Source: AFP via NewsCentral TV
Gyurov, 50, a former deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank who served as caretaker prime minister this year, is backed by pro-Western, reformist parties, signed a security cooperation agreement with Kyiv while premier, and says he wants Bulgaria to be a reliable NATO ally. In the same debate he accused Iotova of avoiding direct criticism of Moscow over the shipping attacks: "Russia must stop its aggression so that the next steps can be taken. Let us name the country from which the threats are coming," he said, according to AFP.
Source: AFP via NewsCentral TV
Bulgaria sits on NATO's Black Sea flank, next to a war that has now reached its own coastline's shipping lanes. Its president is commander-in-chief, can appoint interim governments in a crisis and can veto legislation — so Sunday's choice between negotiation with Moscow and firmer NATO alignment shapes how the alliance's southeastern edge answers the next Black Sea attack.
Attribution of the ship attacks remains disputed, and both campaigns have fought over it. Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who backs Iotova, said the strikes' outcome "benefits the Russian Federation" and summoned the Russian ambassador — but his government also insists there is so far no direct evidence linking the incidents to Moscow, AFP and Al Jazeera reported. Political analyst Teodor Slavev told AFP that voters were giving their verdict on what he called Iotova's "unconvincing response regarding Russian threats in the Black Sea". Sociologist Boriana Dimitrova told AFP she expects turnout to rise in the runoff, arguing the narrow margin could draw out voters who assumed the result was settled.
The campaign also carried a dispute over fairness: Gyurov's camp alleged Radev misused state resources and his office to support Iotova in violation of electoral law. The Central Election Commission rejected the allegations, and Gyurov's team is appealing that decision in court, AFP reported. Iotova, a former journalist and member of the European Parliament who was elected vice-president alongside Radev in 2016 and 2021, has also pledged to tackle poverty in the EU's poorest member state, home to 6.4 million people.
What is solid
- Voting is under way Sunday in the runoff, with polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and exit polls due after close; the first round on Oct 25 gave Iotova about 35% and Gyurov about 32% on a record-low 23% turnout
- Merchant ships off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast were struck repeatedly in October and a Greek container ship sank on Wednesday; the government has sought allied help on maritime security
- Iotova opposes military aid to Ukraine and backs negotiations; Gyurov backs firmer NATO alignment and signed a security agreement with Kyiv as caretaker premier
What is only claimed
- Who carried out the Black Sea ship attacks has NOT been established — Sofia says the outcome benefits Russia but states there is no direct evidence linking Moscow
- The missing seafarers' toll is reported differently: 21 missing (AFP) versus about two dozen feared dead (Al Jazeera)
- Whether runoff turnout will recover from the record-low first round is analysts' expectation, not a result
What happens next is fast: exit polls land minutes after polls close at 18:00 GMT on Sunday, and a winner is expected to be clear by Monday. Whoever takes the presidency inherits the Black Sea file at once — an unresolved series of attacks on commercial shipping, an allied patrol build-up, and a country still split over how close to stand to Moscow while the Ukraine war continues.