Pro-Russian candidate Iliana Yotova today won the second round of the presidential elections in Bulgaria, according to three polls at the mouth of the polls, with just over 51% of the votes.
© Daniel Yovkov / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images
01/11/2026
by
Lusa
A pro-Russian candidate Iliana Yotova won today the second and decisive round of the presidential elections in Bulgaria, according to three polls at the mouth of the polls released at the close of the vote, at 8 p.m. (18:00 in Lisbon).
According to data from Trend polling institutes, Myara and Alpha, the current President-in-Office obtained just over 51% of the votes, surpassing her pro-European rival Andrey Gyurov, who won 44%. About 5% of voters voted that they do not support either candidate.
Participation in these presidential elections was once again exceptionally low — estimated at 26%, only three percentage points higher than that recorded in the first round a week ago — according to surveys released by different local televisions.
Yotova, a 62-year-old socialist former deputy, advocates the reestablishment of relations with Russia, the end of military aid to Ukraine and the exclusive concentration on diplomacy to resolve the conflict.
During the campaign, he said it would be what he described as a “president of peace”, while accusing his rival — an economist and former interim 50-year-old prime minister — of wanting to involve the Balkan country, which maintains historical relations with Russia, in the war in Ukraine.