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Presidential elections in Bulgaria without surprise

by Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes

Extremely low voter turnout

First place in the first round of the presidential elections in Bulgaria on 25 October 2026 with 34.7% went to Iliana Yotova, the former vice president, acting president following the resignation of Rumen Radev at the end of 2026, and candidate of the governing party 'Progressive Bulgaria'(PB) as well as the 'Bulgarian Socialist Party'(BSP). However, her result fell short of expectations. In second place was Andrey Gyurov, former caretaker prime minister in 2026 and candidate of the opposition party 'We Continue the Change' (PP) and the 'Democratic Bulgaria' (DB) coalition, who performed stronger than predicted with 32%. In the runoff election on 1 November 2026, Yotova then prevailed quite clearly with 57.6% compared to 39.5% for Gyurov. Voter turnout hit a record low of 23% in the first round and 29.1% in the second round.
November 4, 2026 Order details

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Please note that the full-lenght country report is only available in German. 

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Contact Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes
Portrait von Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes
Head of the Bulgaria Overseas Office
norbert.beckmann@kas.de +359 2 943-4388 | +359 2 943-4390

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