The First Round Of The Presidential Election Is Taking Place In Bulgaria
- 25.10.2026, 13:22
The frontrunners are the country's current head of state, Iliana Yotova, and former Prime Minister Andrei Gyurov.
On October 25, Bulgaria will hold the first round of its presidential election, with the main contenders being Iliana Yotova, the acting president, and pro-Ukrainian former Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov.
This was reported by Novinite.
Nearly 6.6 million citizens are eligible to vote at 9,373 polling stations across the country.
Polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. local time. Voting will continue until 8:00 p.m., with a possible extension until 9:00 p.m. if voters are still waiting in line.
The frontrunner in the election is incumbent President Iliana Yotova, who took office this year after the current Prime Minister Rumen Radev resigned to run in the parliamentary elections that brought him to power.
Yotova is a direct successor to Radev’s political vision and leadership style. She served as his vice president since his first term in 2017 and remained loyal to her former boss even after his resignation in January 2026.
Her main rival is Andrey Gyurov, the former head of government. He has extensive experience in economics and, during his brief tenure, signed a security agreement between Bulgaria and Ukraine; together with Interior Ministry Chief Commissioner Georgi Kandev, organized the country’s most transparent parliamentary elections in recent years. Gyurov actively criticizes the government when it takes anti-Ukrainian actions, undermines EU unity, or supports Russia.
The leader of the pro-Russian far-right party “Vazrazhdane,” Kostadin Kostadinov ranked third in pre-election polls.
A total of 27 pairs of candidates for the offices of president and vice president are participating in the first round, with nearly half of them openly supporting the Kremlin.
If no candidate secures an absolute majority of the votes in the first round, a second round is scheduled for November 1.
Yotova and Gyurov are widely considered the most likely contenders to advance to the second round.