Rumen Radev is a former air force general and ex-president who blocks weapons for Ukraine, calls Crimea Russian, and promises "dialogue with Moscow"
The center-left “Progressive Bulgaria” party won 44.7% of the vote in the election and is likely to have a single majority in parliament. Party leader Rumen Georgiev Radev is preparing to become prime minister.
He is a former general in the Bulgarian Air Force. He served as president from 2017 to January of this year. Under the Bulgarian constitution, the country is governed by parliament, but due to constant political instability, Radev has had greater influence as president. After each government collapse — and there have been seven — he has appointed a caretaker government, vetoed laws, and shaped the agenda. In January, amid anti-corruption protests, he resigned to run in elections and become prime minister.
Anti-corruption protests in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, December 2025. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev announces his resignation at a press conference on January 19, 2026.
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The world media has described Radev as a pro-Russian politician or “Kremlin-friendly” and has talked about the risks of his victory for the European Union and Ukraine. According to one European intelligence officer, Radev’s election campaign this year was partly supported by a network of former high-ranking Bulgarian military officers with contacts with Russian military intelligence.
As president, Radev has repeatedly spoken out against Bulgarian arms supplies to Ukraine and EU sanctions against Russia, called Crimea Russian and called for the restoration of Russian oil imports to Europe.
In addition, he has blocked a 10-year security cooperation agreement between Bulgaria and Ukraine for more than a year. Bulgaria’s interim Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov signed it on March 30, three weeks before the election. Rumen Radev subsequently called the agreement a “threat to national security” and “an invitation to war”.
At the same time, even the caretaker governments of Bulgaria, which were appointed by Radev himself, did not block EU sanctions against Russia. During his election campaign for parliament and after his victory, Radev denied accusations of pro-Russian views. And he explained his rhetoric by saying that he chooses a pragmatic approach in relations with Russia:
"We are the only EU country that is both Slavic and Eastern Orthodox. So we can be a very important link in this whole mechanism to restore relations with Russia," he said in an interview with Bulgarian journalist Martin Karbovski.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (left), Kremlin President Vladimir Putin and Bulgarian President Rumen Radev during the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2019), St. Petersburg, Russia, June 7, 2019.
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Bulgaria became one of the main secret donors of weapons and fuel to Ukraine after the start of the full-scale invasion — the "scheme" almost led to the resignation of the Bulgarian government
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Bulgaria refused to supply weapons to Ukraine. This was opposed, in particular, by the then President Rumen Radev. On April 28, 2022, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov flew to Kyiv to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky. At that time, they publicly agreed only on energy cooperation and the repair of Ukrainian military equipment in Bulgaria.
However, this was only part of the story, the details of which later became known from two major investigations by the German publication Die Welt and the Bulgarian Bivol.
By the time of Petkovʼs trip to Kyiv in April 2022, the Bulgarian government had already launched a secret mechanism for comprehensive military assistance to Ukraine. Prime Minister Kiril Petkov himself played a key role: he helped the Bulgarian government grant export licenses to intermediaries — Romania and Poland. The Polish military airport "Rzeszow" became a key hub.
Over two months, about 50 flights with weapons and ammunition operated from Bulgaria to Rzeszow. In addition, Kiril Petkov said that a land route for trucks through Romania and Hungary was also operating at the same time.
Thus, in just 164 days, Bulgaria transferred weapons worth $2.7 billion to Ukraine, and exports, according to Petkov, increased by 200%. The deliveries were paid for by the United States and Great Britain.
Meeting of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky with Prime Minister of Bulgaria Kiril Petkov, April 28, 2022.
Due to secret arms shipments, Bulgariaʼs government coalition almost fell apart in May 2022.
The government of Kiril Petkov was based on a coalition of four parties, including the pro-Russian Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which is close to President Rumen Radev (particularly on issues of relations with Moscow).
The Socialists threatened to leave the coalition if Sofia officially approved military aid to Kyiv. Such a move could lead to the resignation of the entire Petkov government. But the conflict was then circumvented by a political half-measure, since officially Bulgaria exported ammunition to Romania and Poland as “commercial exports”, and from there they went to Ukraine.
Later, Bulgarian military supplies to Ukraine were publicly confirmed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her visit to the “VAZ Machine-Building Plant” (VMZ) (Bulgaria’s largest state-owned defense plant). According to her, a third of the weapons used by Ukraine at the beginning of the Great War came from Bulgaria.
Bulgarian 82 mm high-explosive fragmentation mines in service with the 93rd separate mechanized brigade in the Donetsk region, October 2022.
93-тя ОМБр Холодний Яр
In addition to weapons, Bulgaria has also become one of the largest exporters of diesel fuel, at times covering 40% of Ukraineʼs needs. Former Bulgarian Finance Minister Asen Vasilev began to address this issue after a Ukrainian representative told him about the fuel shortage in April 2022 at a World Bank meeting in Washington.
Bulgaria has an oil refinery near Burgas on the Black Sea coast, which was then run by a subsidiary of the Russian company “Lukoil”. The plant ran on Russian oil, which was supplied by tankers from Russia. After a signal from the Ukrainian side, Vasilev convinced the then Bulgarian company “Lukoil” to export surplus oil to Ukraine.
According to him, the company agreed because some of the employees also publicly condemned the war unleashed by Russia. About half of the fuel produced was needed by Bulgaria, and the rest was supplied to Ukraine. Trucks and tankers regularly ran through Romania to Ukraine, and in some cases the fuel was loaded onto freight trains.
In response, Russia launched cyberattacks on Bulgaria, targeting electricity supplies, post offices, and sometimes even preventing the payment of pensions to civil servants. Moscow also tried to bribe members of parliament, infiltrate government institutions, and stopped supplying gas to Bulgaria.
Over time, Petkov’s government was removed. The parliament expressed a vote of no confidence in him. And in December 2022, the new Bulgarian parliament decided to officially allow the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
It is unlikely that the new Prime Minister Rumen Radev will follow Viktor Orbanʼs path — Bulgariaʼs economy is critically dependent on EU money
Now that Rumen Radev becomes Prime Minister, he will gain new levers of power, including the ability to influence the governmentʼs decision on military aid to Ukraine and, likely, will try to resume dialogue on Russian energy imports.
But on the issue of EU sanctions against Russia, he has little space for maneuver — Radev has already publicly stated that he will not block the European Unionʼs decision in this area.
It is worth considering that Bulgaria is one of the poorest countries in the EU. The defense industry is a key employer. In October 2025, an event occurred that effectively set a long-term trap for any future Bulgarian prime minister — regardless of his personal relations with Moscow.
The German arms manufacturing concern “Rheinmetall” and the Bulgarian state-owned company VMZ (“VAZ Machine-Building Plant”) signed an agreement on a joint venture worth ~€1 billion, in which the German company will have a 51% stake, and VMZ — 49%.
Bulgaria will finance its share with a loan under the European SAFE mechanism to increase investment in defense. In addition, the company will create about 1 000 new jobs. So it is not beneficial for the future prime minister to conflict with the EU.
The “Rheinmetall” CEO Armin Papperger (left) and the “VAZ Machine-Building Plant” (VMZ) Director Ivan Getsov (right) sign an agreement on a joint project to build a plant in the presence of Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov (center), October 28, 2025.
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