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Russia-aligned Rumen Radev wins landslide in Bulgaria

April 20, 2026 GOVERNMENT, Spotlight 0

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ER Editor: Zerohedge has this —

Bulgaria’s Former Pro-Russian President Set For Landslide Election Win

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Russia-aligned Rumen Radev wins landslide in Bulgaria

Radev crushed traditional parties that he accused of being key enablers of a mafia state.

Rumen Radev And Progressive Bulgaria Winners In Exit Polls
Progressive Bulgaria movement leader Rumen Radev speaks to journalists in Sofia after polls closed and with early counting showing him with a huge lead. | Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

With 78 percent of ballots counted, it looked like he had effectively overturned Bulgaria’s old political order, winning about 44 percent of the vote, putting him on track for an absolute majority. A pro-EU liberal reformist coalition was in second place, with about 14 percent.

Both Radev and the second-placed liberals hailed Sunday’s results as a historic defeat for Bulgaria’s oligarchic model that they said was represented by the GERB party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the DPS-New Beginning party of Delyan Peevski.

The preliminary results showed GERB won only 13 percent of the vote and DPS only 6 percent.

“We voted in numbers, we defeated apathy. But distrust in Bulgarian politics is still high and we have a lot of work ahead of us. This is just the first step,” he told reporters.

He added the election was a victory for “hope over mistrust, and freedom over fear.”

Radev also hinted he could find common ground with the pro-Brussels reformist camp over shaking up the corruption-plagued judiciary — seen as one of the main levers of power for the Bulgarian mafia.

Radev has built up his political reputation by casting himself as an opponent of the nexus between mobsters and politics. Just before Sunday’s election, he slammed Borissov and Peevski for sitting atop the “oligarchic pyramid” running the mafia state.

But his opponents argue his policies often align with the Kremlin’s, particularly on the war in Ukraine.

Radev has encouraged Ukraine to sue for peace, does not support sending arms to Kyiv and says his insistence that Crimea is “Russian” simply reflects a strategic reality. He is also a critic of Sofia’s accession to the euro this year, arguing the new currency has stoked inflation.

In remarks after Sunday’s election, he portrayed his desire for dialogue with Russia as being increasingly part of the European mainstream. He argued that diplomacy with Moscow would be necessary not only to secure a new security architecture for the continent but was vital in relation to energy costs and industrial competitiveness. He hinted during the campaign that he favored cheap oil imports from Russia.

While these positions have helped him build up a base of support at home, he has avoided direct confrontation with the West and has generally fallen in step with the European mainstream when attending European Council meetings in Brussels.

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Featured image source:  https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/04/20/world/politics/bulgaria-pro-russian-president-election/

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