Pro-Russian former President Rumen Radev has won a landslide victory in Bulgaria's election, official results showed on Monday, ousting long-dominant political forces and potentially bringing the European Union (EU) and NATO member closer to Moscow.
The agency said the result, better than polls predicted, was one of the strongest ever won by a single party in a generation and could, at least for now, end the chronic instability that has led to eight elections in five years.
Radev's Progressive Bulgaria party won 44,7 percent of the vote after 91,7 percent of ballots were counted, indicating it could govern alone, although he did not rule out a coalition with a pro-European group or a smaller party.
Progressive Bulgaria's result put it well ahead of the pro-European coalition Continuing Change – Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB), which won 13,2 percent, and the long-dominant GERB party, led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, with 13,4 percent.
"This is a victory of hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear and, finally, if you will, a victory of morality," Radev said at a press conference late Sunday.
A Eurosceptic and former fighter pilot who opposed military support for Ukraine's war effort against Moscow, Radev resigned from the largely ceremonial post of Bulgaria's president in January to run in parliamentary elections after mass protests toppled the previous government in December.
Riding a wave of frustration over political instability in the Balkan nation of 6,5 million, Radev has won the support of voters tired of corruption and old parties that have dominated politics for decades, Reuters writes.
"Now there is an opportunity for what people have been hoping would change to actually become visible," Evelina Koleva, a manager at a digital marketing company in Sofia, the capital, told Reuters.
Foreign policy issues
Radev's campaign drew comparisons to pro-Russian former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban when he spoke of improving relations with Moscow and restoring the free flow of Russian oil and gas to Europe.
He also criticized the European Union for relying too heavily on renewable energy sources.
However, Radev has been vague on policy and it is not yet clear to what extent he will change the foreign policy of Bulgaria, a Black Sea country on the southeastern flank of the EU, which joined the eurozone in January - a move that Radev has criticized.
Analysts do not expect him to try to reverse Bulgaria's adoption of the euro or block broader EU aid packages for Ukraine.
Radev said on Sunday that he would be ready to work with PP-DB on judicial reform and that Bulgaria would "make efforts to continue on its European path."
Some voters were cautious.
"I don't know if I believe there will be a change in the political class. But I hope it will be for the better because it is high time we got some kind of change," said Venelin Spasov, a 31-year-old real estate agent from Sofia.
Concerns about the cost of living
Bulgaria has developed rapidly since the fall of communism in 1989 and joined the EU in 2007. Life expectancy has increased significantly, unemployment is the lowest in the EU, and the economy has greater safeguards since adopting the euro.
But according to other indicators, it still lags behind EU countries.
The cost of living has become a particularly important issue since Bulgaria joined the eurozone. The previous government fell amid protests against a new budget that proposed tax increases and higher social security contributions.
"The main challenge for the country is the economic and demographic crisis. It doesn't seem like the winning camp has many ideas on either of those two issues," said Tihomir Bezlov, a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Democracy in Sofia.
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