Bulgarians voted in a presidential runoff on November 1, with incumbent Iliana Iotova and former caretaker prime minister Andrey Gyurov offering different approaches to Russia as attacks on Black Sea shipping intensified security concerns, France 24 reported with AFP.
The contest for the largely ceremonial presidency followed a tighter first round than polls had suggested. Iotova received 35 percent of the vote to Gyurov’s 32 percent, far short of the 20-percentage-point advantage pollsters had forecast. Only 23 percent of voters participated; election officials expected higher turnout for the runoff.
Several vessels were hit off Bulgaria’s coast in October, leaving 21 people missing. The attacks were suspected spillover from the Russia-Ukraine war. Prime Minister Rumen Radev said they appeared to benefit Russian interests and summoned Russia’s ambassador, but his government said there was no evidence directly connecting Moscow to the attacks.
Iotova opposes military assistance to Ukraine and argues that negotiations are necessary to end the war. She supports Bulgaria’s membership in both the European Union and NATO and is a longtime Radev ally. She assumed the presidency earlier this year after he stepped down to contest parliamentary elections.
Gyurov, a banker and former deputy governor of Bulgaria’s central bank backed by the pro-Western opposition, criticised Iotova during a pre-runoff debate for not explicitly blaming Russia for the maritime attacks. He argued that Russia must end its aggression before further steps toward peace can follow.