Veteran leader of Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party, Boyko Borissov, votes in election

(19 Apr 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sofia - 19 April 2026
1. Various of Boyko Borissov, leader of GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) party, arriving to vote
2. Various of Borissov voting
3. SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Boyko Borissov, GERB party leader:
“I want to reconfirm again our firm European stance, on Ukraine, on the European People’s Party, the European Commission, and the European Parliament — for a strong Europe and a strong Bulgaria in a strong Europe. This is GERB.”
4. Mid of voters
5. Close of ballot box
STORYLINE:
The veteran leader of the centre-right GERB party in Bulgaria, Boyko Borissov, voted in the country's election on Sunday.

The election could bring to power a left-leaning ex-president just days after Hungarian voters rejected the authoritarian policies and global far-right movement of Viktor Orbán in Hungary.

Rumen Radev's new coalition is seen as favoured to win most of the votes in the April 19 poll, with some voters hoping that this could put an end to the country’s oligarchic corruption, while others are lining up behind Radev’s Eurosceptic and pro-Russian views.

Opinion polls predict Sunday's turnout to jump from an average of 35% in the last few elections to over 50%, partly because a new player has joined the race, but also due to efforts by the interim government to boost confidence in the vote with nationwide police raids, arrests and pretrial proceedings for vote-buying.

Most polls predict that Radev’s coalition could get more than 30% of the vote, putting him nearly 10% ahead of his closest rival — Borissov, the veteran leader of the centre-right GERB party whose most recent term as prime minister was ended by the December 2025 protests.

Most polls report margins of error from 3 to 3.5%.

Radev has cast himself as an opponent of the country’s entrenched mafia and its ties to high-ranking politicians.

Bulgaria, a European Union and NATO member country with a population of 6.5 million, joined the eurozone on Jan. 1 this year shortly after entering the border-free Schengen travel area.

AP video by Florent Bajrami

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Дата на публикация: 30 април, 2026
Категория: Друго