Pro-Russian ex-president wins Bulgarian elections - Rumen Radev's party gets over 44% of the vote
Pro-Russian former President Rumen Radev has won a landslide victory in Bulgaria's parliamentary elections, official results showed, potentially ending years of weak coalition governments and sidelining long-dominant political forces.
The performance, which beats opinion polls, is one of the strongest results from a single party and could end, for now, the instability that led to eight elections in five years.
Radev's party, Progressive Bulgaria, received 44.6% of the vote after 60% of ballots were counted, suggesting it could govern alone in a strong minority government, but he has not ruled out a coalition with a pro-European group or a smaller party.
Progressive Bulgaria's vote tally puts it well ahead of the pro-European coalition We Continue Change - Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) with 14.2%, and the long-dominant GERB party, led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, with 13%.
"This is a victory of hope over disbelief, a victory of freedom over fear and finally, if you will call it that, a victory of morality," Radev said at a press conference.
A eurosceptic and former fighter pilot who opposed military support for Ukraine's war effort against Moscow, Radev resigned from the presidency in January to run after mass protests forced the previous government to fall in December. He led a wave of disillusionment with political instability in the Balkan nation of 6.5 million, where voters are fed up with corruption and the veteran parties that have dominated politics for decades.
Radev's campaign drew comparisons to former pro-Kremlin Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban when he spoke of improving ties with Moscow and resuming the free flow of Russian oil and gas to Europe. He also criticized the European Union for over-reliance on renewable energy.
However, Radev has been unclear about how much he will change foreign policy in Bulgaria, a NATO member on the EU's southeastern flank that joined the eurozone in January - a move Radev has criticized.
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