Rumen Radev is a former general and commander of the Bulgarian Air Force. He served as president from 2017 to January of this year. In January, mass anti-corruption protests broke out in the country and another government fell. Radev resigned early to run in early parliamentary elections — Bulgaria’s eighth since 2021.
In the elections, he focused on domestic politics — he promised to improve the standard of living of citizens, dismantle the "mafia state" and oligarchic schemes associated with the old government. The fight against corruption and social promises brought him victory.
"Progressive Bulgaria" received 44.6% of the vote and for the first time in 30 years an absolute majority in parliament — 131 out of 240 seats.
Anti-corruption protests in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, December 2025. At the end of last year, thousands of people in Bulgaria protested against the draft budget for 2026, which included an increase in taxes and social security contributions. Against this backdrop, the government of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov resigned.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
However, in foreign policy, despite his personal Eurosceptic views, Radev is forced to take Brussels into account, as most Bulgarians are oriented towards the EU. In March of this year, 56% of those polled named Europe as the countryʼs main strategic partner, while only 19.5% named Russia.
On the eve of the elections, the world media described Radev as a pro-Russian or “Kremlin-friendly” politician. There were reasons for this — he repeatedly opposed the supply of Bulgarian weapons to Ukraine and EU sanctions against Russia, called Crimea Russian and called for the restoration of Russian oil imports to Europe.
In addition, Radev blocked a ten-year agreement on security cooperation between Bulgaria and Ukraine for more than a year. Because of his statements and previous actions, Brussels feared that Bulgaria could become another problematic partner like Hungary during the time of Viktor Orbán.
Brussels received the first signal two weeks after Rumen Radev became Prime Minister
At a meeting of the Council of Europe on May 15, representatives of 36 countries decided to launch a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. Bulgaria did not join the initiative. Among EU members, only Hungary, Slovakia and Malta did so.
Radev explained this as follows: "The tribunal works when a country loses a war, surrenders, and its leader is taken prisoner. Such conditions do not exist now, and they are unlikely to appear in the near future."
Soon after, newly appointed Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov announced that Bulgaria would no longer supply Ukraine with weapons from its army warehouses.
“The war in Ukraine will not be resolved on the battlefield,” he said. But he later clarified that this was a free transfer, so Ukraine and its partners could continue to buy what they needed from Bulgarian defense companies.
Radev later went further and said that Bulgaria would not allocate money for military aid to Ukraine this year. According to him, previous governments left too large a budget deficit, so Bulgaria does not have the resources to help other countries.
Even before the elections, Radev assured that he would not block European decisions regarding support for Ukraine. But on June 18, he declared that Bulgaria would not support the 21st package of sanctions against Russia. Sofia demanded the removal of three people:
- Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, as they say, sanctions against the church hierarch are transferring the conflict into the religious sphere;
- the founder of “Lukoil” Vagit Alekperov — here Bulgaria argued with its economic interests;
- billionaire Iskandar Makhmudov: he is a shareholder of “Transmashholding”, and one of his subsidiaries supplied cars for the Sofia metro.
"Bulgaria stated [that it is ready] to veto the entire package. [Therefore] these names were removed. There is nothing wrong with the country defending its national interest," Radev commented on the concessions from the EU.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks with Rumen Radev during a meeting of EU leaders at a summit in Brussels, June 18, 2026.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
Radev reported his withdrawal from the "Coalition of the Willing", but the next day Bulgaria supported a declaration in its defense
On July 14, after the Paris meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing", Radev said that he had declined a personal invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron.
"We are not participating in a coalition that insists on continuing to provide Ukraine with financial and military assistance. This conflict must be resolved not with weapons, but with a powerful diplomatic mission," the Bulgarian prime minister said at the time.
The very next day, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova arrived in Kyiv for the Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit. Following the meeting, the Office of the President of Ukraine published the Kyiv Declaration, where the Bulgarian minister was listed among the representatives of the states that adopted the document.
The declaration condemns Russian aggression, supports sanctions, the Special Tribunal, and the “Coalition of the Willing”. That is, Bulgaria supported a political document, the main provisions of which literally contradicted Radev’s statements made just the day before.
The Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit was held in Kyiv on July 15. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova is pictured behind Volodymyr Zelensky.
A few days later, journalists on the sidelines of parliament asked Bulgarian government officials to explain the discrepancy. Petrova-Chamova said she had not signed the declaration and had not made any new commitments to the Coalition of the Willing. Radev also focused on the lack of a signature.
“Did you see the signature? There is no signature, and you will not see it,” the prime minister said.
Formally, he is right. Petrova-Chamova did not put a physical signature under the declaration. But none of the participants put one. Documents of this type are adopted by consensus without separate voting and signatures. They demonstrate a political position, but do not create legal obligations.
Bulgaria is unlikely to oppose Ukraineʼs integration into the EU — but it is likely to use the negotiations to gain concessions for itself.
Bulgaria has done this before, with North Macedonia. In 2020, Sofia blocked the start of membership talks for North Macedonia over a dispute over the status of the Bulgarian minority. Two years later, Sofia agreed to lift its veto, but only if the Macedonians included a reference to Bulgarians as one of the country’s peoples in their constitution. The Macedonian parliament fell short of the votes, the changes have still not been adopted, and North Macedonia’s EU accession remains blocked.
Legally, Bulgaria has the same options that Hungary used. To open and close negotiation clusters, change the negotiating framework and finally accept the country into the EU, all member states must give their consent. The European Commission can pressure Sofia politically and financially, but it cannot take away its veto power.
A potential point of tension in relations with Ukraine could be the Bulgarian minority. According to sources at Suspilne, Sofia wants to achieve broader educational and language rights for it.
“I heard from them that the Bulgarians want to ensure the educational rights of their minority in Ukraine,” one of the EU diplomats told the publication.
Musicians in folk costumes play drums and accordions during the celebration of Tryphon Zarezan, a traditional Bulgarian holiday of winegrowers, gardeners and innkeepers. Bolgrad, February 14, 2026.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
This is not an unusual requirement in itself. The protection of the rights of national minorities is included in the first negotiation cluster “Fundamentals”.
“Bulgaria supports Ukraine’s European path and assesses the accession process based on the merits of the candidate country,” said Dimitar Yaprakov, spokesman for the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria to the EU, in a comment to Babel. The head of the Verkhovna Rada’s Foreign Policy Committee Oleksandr Merezhko believes that Bulgaria has no reason to exacerbate the minority issue.
However, the risk cannot be completely dismissed. Radev is unlikely to oppose Ukraineʼs accession to the EU as such, but he may use certain stages of the negotiations to seek concessions for the Bulgarian minority. The sanctions episode has already shown that he considers the threat of a veto a normal way to protect the "national interest".
However, Merezhko is convinced that fears about a “second Hungary” are exaggerated: “Bulgaria remains in line with EU and NATO policies. The government will not dare to challenge European and transatlantic solidarity. No one in the EU wants a new Orban.”
In Hungary, the situation was somewhat different, Merezhko explains, because Orban was interested in cheap Russian gas and economic preferences from Putin.
Bulgaria also has vulnerabilities in this context, primarily the Lukoil refinery in Burgas. But after 2022, Bulgaria significantly reduced its dependence on Russian gas, replacing it with supplies from Azerbaijan and liquefied gas via Greece. In 2025, the Bulgarian Kozloduy nuclear power plant stopped receiving Russian nuclear fuel and switched to products from the American Westinghouse and the French Framatome.
“Lukoil” oil refinery in Burgas, November 14, 2025.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
Hungary under Orbán, by contrast, maintained a long-term dependence on Russian oil and gas and the “Paks-2” nuclear power plant project being built by “Rosatom”. That is, Moscow had significantly more economic leverage over Budapest than it now has over Sofia.
Why Sofia depends on Brussels more than Moscow — and this is good news for Ukraine
The main reason why Radev is unlikely to engage in a systemic conflict with the EU is not ideological, but financial.
- Bulgaria expects to receive around €11 billion from the EU budget between 2021 and 2027. This money will go towards roads, schools, hospitals, business support and the development of poorer regions. This amount is almost 10% of Bulgariaʼs GDP.
- Separately, the European Commission has allocated €6.17 billion to Bulgaria for its recovery from the pandemic. These are grants — they do not have to be repaid. But Brussels is transferring the money in installments and only after the government implements the agreed reforms.
- Bulgaria also depends on the EU for defense. On July 31, the parliament ratified a €3.3 billion loan agreement under the SAFE program. These are concessional long-term funds for the modernization of the army and the purchase of weapons.
On July 23, Bulgarian-born European Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva met with Prime Minister Radev and President Iliana Yotova in Sofia. According to the official version, they discussed innovation and the development of European industry.
According to Politico Playbook, Zaharieva also had to find out how far the new government was willing to deviate from the common EU policy towards Ukraine.
Rumen Radev during a working meeting with European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva, July 29, 2026.
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European money does not deprive Bulgaria of the right of veto. And Orbanʼs experience proves that even freezing billions does not always force the government to abandon the blockade. But Radev does not yet have either Orbanʼs long-standing system of power, or the support of society for a turn from the EU.
Therefore, the most likely scenario is not a permanent veto of all decisions on Ukraine, but spot bargaining. This logic will be tested next in the fall — during new votes in the EU Council for sanctions and further progress in negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession.