Iliana Yotova won Bulgaria's presidential runoff decisively, with 57.6% to Andrey Gyurov's 39.5%, according to official results cited by DW. Yotova campaigned as a "president of peace" and opposes military aid to Ukraine.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev told voters that they were "choosing between war and peace." DW reports that Radev claims Bulgarians chose peace. Gyurov, a former caretaker prime minister, is described as staunchly pro-European and pro-Ukrainian, and he sharply criticized Russian aggression in Ukraine.
The campaign exposed divisions among voters. Sociologist Dimitar Ganev of the Trend agency told DW that voters under 40 favored Gyurov, while voters over 40 preferred Yotova. He said Gyurov dominated in Sofia, while Yotova dominated in smaller cities, towns and villages.
Yotova said in a campaign rally on October 6 that "not a single Bulgarian soldier will go to Ukraine" while she is president. DW notes that under the Bulgarian Constitution, only parliament can send troops abroad or declare war. Yotova told supporters, "We won because we talked to people about income and about peace."
Several ships in the Black Sea were hit by drones off the Bulgarian coast in the weeks before the election. The European Council criticized Russia for the escalation. Radev summoned the Russian ambassador and said that "logic suggests that the outcome" of the attacks "is to the advantage of the Russian Federation." Yotova did not name Russia as the perpetrator. She said she did not want to see "foreign flags in Bulgaria," a reference to the Ukrainian flag, according to DW.
Most opposition parties did not field a presidential candidate, and turnout on Sunday was less than 30%. Pro-Russian candidate Kostadin Kostadinov won 12.5% in the first round. Ganev estimated that around 70% of his voters backed Yotova in the runoff.