Bulgarians vote in presidential runoff election between Iotova and Gyurov

Bulgarians are voting on Sunday in a presidential runoff election between incumbent President Iliana Iotova and her pro-Western rival Andrey Gyurov, Euronews reported. Polling stations opened at 7 am local time and are scheduled to close at 8 pm. Euronews noted that the two candidates hold sharply contrasting views on how Bulgaria should engage with Russia and the war in Ukraine. [1]

According to Euronews, Iotova won the first round of voting with around 35 percent of the vote. That gave her a lead of 43,000 votes over Gyurov. Euronews reported that this was a surprise result because earlier opinion polls had suggested a more comfortable victory for her. Iotova is backed by the ruling party. [1]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, the presidential election originally featured 27 candidates on the ballot. Both frontrunners previously condemned lethal drone strikes in the Black Sea while offering different perspectives on the conflict in Ukraine. Gyurov previously served as caretaker prime minister. [5]

The modern Bulgarian state emerged through the 1878 Treaty of Berlin following centuries of Ottoman suzerainty. The country navigated Axis alignment in World War II and four decades of communist rule before transitioning from it in 1989. [3]