Bulgaria holds early parliamentary elections. Pro-Russian ex-president Radevʼs party wins

Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on April 19. The “Progressive Bulgaria” party of former President Rumen Radev is leading by a wide margin.

This is evidenced by the results of exit polls at 8:45 PM, published by the public broadcaster B.TV.

Progressive Bulgaria is leading by a large margin of 39.1%. This would put the party at 110 seats in parliament out of 240, making it a key force in forming a future coalition.

In second place, according to exit polls, with 15.6% of the vote is the pro-European GERB party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, while the coalition of parties "We Continue Changes — Democratic Bulgaria" currently has 13.4% of the vote.

Also, according to preliminary estimates, the coalition of the parties "DPS — New Beginning" and "Renaissance", as well as the coalition of left-wing parties "Bulgarian Socialist Party — United Left", which, according to exit polls, passes the 4 percent barrier to obtain seats in the countryʼs parliament, will enter the parliament of the 52nd convocation.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that as of 4:30 PM, it had received 328 reports of violations during the parliamentary elections. Law enforcement officers had opened 26 investigations.

• These are the eighth parliamentary elections in Bulgaria in five years. In December 2025, the government of then Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov resigned due to mass protests in the country due to public dissatisfaction with the 2026 budget and the planned transition to the euro.
• President Radev subsequently resigned and formed his own political party to run in parliamentary elections. Radev was elected President of Bulgaria in 2016 and was re-elected in 2021. In his position, he repeatedly opposed arms supplies to Ukraine and blocked sanctions against Russia. In particular, in December 2023, Radev vetoed the parliamentʼs decision to provide Ukraine with 100 decommissioned armored personnel carriers free of charge.

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