Progressive Bulgaria, the coalition led by Bulgaria’s Kremlin-friendly ex-President Rumen Radev, is projected to be the runaway winner of the country’s snap parliamentary elections on April 19.
With over a third of the vote counted, Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria was leading with 44% of the vote, results showed.
Early exit polls showed the coalition on track to win 37-38% of the vote. While the final results are yet to be tallied, Radev claimed an “uncontested victory” in comments to reporters after the polls closed.
Despite outperforming the second-place party, We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, by about 30 percentage points, Radev’s party will still need coalition partners to govern.
Radev has frequently criticized aid to Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia while also opposing Ukraine’s ascension to NATO and the European Union. His electoral win marks a victory for pro-Russian party in the EU a week after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was resoundingly defeated after 16 years in power.
“What Europe needs right now is critical thinking, pragmatic actions and good results, especially to build a new security architecture,” Radev said in a victory speech. “That will be the main contribution of Bulgaria to its European mission.”
Radev resigned from the presidency in January to lead his Progressive Bulgaria coalition in a bid for parliament, promising to crack down on corruption. His center-left coalition is made up of former socialist politicians and Radev loyalists.
