Elections covers European, national and local votes, including the European Parliament, national parliaments and presidential contests. Reporting tracks electoral law and administration, timetables and candidate lists, polling and projections, campaign finance and advertising rules, media access, debates, turnout and results, post-election negotiations, and the formation of governments and EU-level groups.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has announced he will resign, in a move that brings the country’s political crisis into the presidency and sets up a change of head of state weeks before another expected snap general election.
In a televised address on 19 January, Radev said he was speaking to Bulgarians “for the last time” as president and would submit his resignation the following day. Under Bulgaria’s constitutional arrangements, the resignation takes effect only after the Constitutional Court confirms it.
Radev said the country had recorded major milestones during his time in office but argued they had not translated into political stability. In remarks reported by Bulgarian and international media, he criticised the political system and called for a “new social contract”, saying large numbers of citizens had disengaged from voting.
He also pointed to the depth of the institutional deadlock: Bulgaria has struggled to produce durable parliamentary majorities, and repeated coalition talks have collapsed. Reuters reported that the president’s resignation is being widely interpreted in Sofia as linked to speculation that he may enter party politics ahead of elections, though he has not formally confirmed plans to create a new political movement.
The immediate constitutional consequence is a handover to Vice President Iliana Iotova, who is expected to assume the presidency once the court approves the resignation and parliament administers the oath. Bulgarian media reporting, including the state news agency BTA, said Iotova would then appoint a caretaker government, a key step given the collapse of efforts to form a cabinet.
Bulgaria’s caretaker arrangements matter because the president has played an outsized role in managing government formation during the past five years. When parliament fails to produce a majority, the head of state can name interim administrations and set election dates. In recent days the latest attempt to form a government failed after leading parties declined mandates to negotiate a coalition, triggering plans for another early vote.
The background to the latest crisis includes street protests and the collapse of the most recent coalition. Demonstrations intensified over concerns about corruption, living costs and election administration. The governing coalition led by GERB resigned amid mounting pressure. The outgoing government was led by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and stepped down following protests and controversy around budget plans.
This turbulence comes at a time of institutional change. Bulgaria joined the euro zone on 1 January 2026, a strategic objective pursued for years. In his address, Radev also referred to European integration milestones, with media reports quoting him as questioning why such steps had not delivered political consolidation at home.
Radev, a former air force commander, was elected president in 2016 and re-elected for a second term, which was due to run until January 2027. AP described him as the first Bulgarian head of state in the post-communist era to resign voluntarily. The resignation also lands less than a year before the next scheduled presidential contest, which would ordinarily be expected later in 2026; Reuters reported that a presidential election could be held in November.
If Radev does move into electoral politics, it would mark a shift from the largely ceremonial constitutional role of president to direct competition with parties that have dominated parliament since 2021. He has been a persistent critic of GERB leader Boyko Borissov and of Delyan Peevski, a politician who has been sanctioned by the United States and the United Kingdom. How that would translate into a party platform, coalition prospects and parliamentary arithmetic remains unclear, particularly in a fragmented electorate.
