In Bulgaria, the victory in the second round of the presidential election held on November 1 was won by the incumbent head of state Iliyana Yotova. She outperformed former Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, who advocates deepening cooperation with the EU, NATO, and Ukraine.

According to the Central Election Commission of Bulgaria, published by the public broadcaster BNT, after counting 99.95% of protocols as of 7:30 a.m. on November 2, Yotova received 57.58% of the vote. Her opponent was supported by 39.47% of voters. Another 2.95% voted against both candidates.

Thus, Yotova became the first woman elected to the office of President of Bulgaria. She has been head of state since January 2026, when Rumen Radev prematurely left the presidential post to participate in the parliamentary elections. After his political force "Progressive Bulgaria" won, Radev became prime minister.

Yotova was long a political ally of Radev and held the position of vice president for nine years. She supports his approach to foreign policy, in particular, she advocates diplomatic dialogue with Russia.

Her opponent, Andrey Gyurov, represented pro-European opposition forces. During his tenure as interim prime minister, he signed a security cooperation agreement between Bulgaria and Ukraine. His political program provided for strengthening Euro-Atlantic integration and countering Russian influence.

After the announcement of preliminary results, Yotova said that Gyurov called her and congratulated her on the victory. In her speech, she thanked the voters and parties that supported her candidacy, and also criticized opponents for the nature of the election campaign.

The winner said political decisions should be made through dialogue, the search for compromises, and cooperation between state institutions. She also promised to work to overcome the societal division.

Prime Minister Rumen Radev congratulated Yotova on her victory and called the voting results a confirmation of support for his government's political course.

Recall, in the first round on October 25, Yotova and Gyurov received 34.76% and 31.95% of the vote respectively. Since no candidate received the necessary support to win, a repeat vote was scheduled.

The final results of the second round are to be approved by the Central Election Commission after the verification of the election protocols is completed.

Sources: BNT, BNT (candidates' reactions), BTA