Bulgaria votes for president in wake of deadly Black Sea drone strikes
While the presidency is largely ceremonial, Sunday's vote has taken on added significance after a series of drone attacks on merchant ships.
Bulgaria will hold a presidential election on Sunday amid heightened security concerns following drone attacks on ships in the Black Sea. The frontrunner for the largely ceremonial role is President Iliana Iotova, 62, who favors dialogue with Moscow and opposes military aid to Ukraine. Polls suggest she could secure between 41-47 percent of the vote.
Her main rival is Andrey Gyurov, a banker and former caretaker prime minister backed by the pro-Western opposition, who is expected to receive 28-31 percent of the vote. Independent candidate Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of the pro-Russian far-right Vazrazhdane party, is third with 10-13 percent. If Iotova wins the runoff on November 1, she would become Bulgaria's first female president.
The election reflects the country's divided stance on its relationship with Moscow, with nearly half of the candidates openly pro-Kremlin. Iotova, a former journalist and member of the European Parliament, has made peace in Ukraine a central theme of her campaign, pledging a "president of peace" without questioning Bulgaria's EU or NATO membership.
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