An early parliamentary election has begun in the EU and NATO country Bulgaria.
04/19/2026, 07:3704/19/2026, 07:37
Around 6.5 million Bulgarians are called upon to cast their votes by 8:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. CEST). It is the eighth parliamentary election since April 2021. An interim government is in office in Sofia.
Rumen Radew argues similarly to Peter Magyar in Hungary.Image: keystone
According to all forecasts, the clear favorite is a new coalition called Progressive Bulgaria (PB) around ex-President Rumen Radev. The 62-year-old former general had declared war on corruption. He is therefore likely to receive up to 34 percent of the votes for his coalition.
The new election became necessary after mass protests against corruption and after the resignation of the pro-Western coalition government led by the conservative Gerb-SDS alliance in December 2025. According to the surveys, Gerb-SDS now has a maximum of 20 percent of the vote.
Both Radev and the liberal-conservative pro-European association PP-DB, which according to surveys could be the third strongest force with around 12 percent, are aiming for judicial reform. They also want to dismantle Gerb-SDS’s model of, in their words, corrupt governance. At least five political forces are likely to enter parliament in Sofia.
Radev wants to be a Bulgarian Hungarian
The former fighter jet pilot Radev resigned from the office of president in January – a year before the end of his second term – in order to take part in the election. As head of state, Radev was still considered Russia-friendly and advocated for dialogue with Moscow.
Radev now sees the winner of the parliamentary election in Hungary, Peter Magyar, as a model for his Ukraine policy. In a television interview, Radev said that if he were to become head of government, Bulgaria would not participate financially in military aid to Ukraine, but would not block decisions about it.
However, Russian newspapers see Radev as the “Bulgarian Orban”. “If the party led by Radev wins, Bulgaria’s foreign policy course will change: Sofia will most likely become just as “uncomfortable” for Brussels as Budapest,” wrote the daily newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Accusation of vote buying and election influencing
As with previous votes, the election campaign was overshadowed by suspicions of vote buying. Hundreds of suspicious people were arrested because of this. According to official information, sums of money worth a total of one million euros were confiscated, which were intended for the purchase of votes. A vote should cost between 50 and 100 euros.
Due to suspicions of election interference, the country’s interim government activated the EU system to combat disinformation and influence from abroad. Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are on site. (sda/dpa)