Radev waited for his moment – ​​Bulgarians gave him a free hand

When Rumen Radev resigned as Bulgarian president in January to run in Sunday's parliamentary elections, he urged voters to reject the "corrupt officials, conspirators and extremists" he claimed were running the country.

Bulgarians responded by giving the former fighter pilot the largest number of votes in decades. The outcome will allow Radev to lead Bulgaria's first single-party government in almost three decades and pave the way for greater political stability after eight elections in five years.

Radev (62) described the result as "a victory of hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear."

The outcome, however, is also a consequence of good timing by Radev, who for nine years performed the largely ceremonial function of head of state.

Since the outbreak of the political crisis in 2020, he has stood above the parliamentary chaos, appointing caretaker governments when necessary and gradually strengthening his influence, while experienced parliamentary parties struggled with unstable coalitions.

Radev, who during the campaign expressed views close to the Kremlin, opposed military aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia and criticized Bulgaria's introduction of the euro in January, has been waiting for this moment for years.

He entered parliamentary politics at a time when widespread discontent with the old parties was reaching boiling point. Mass protests across the country brought down the last short-lived government in December, further fueling a strong desire for change.

Long-dominant parties, such as former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's pro-European GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, a party run by oligarch Delyan Peevski, who is under US and British sanctions for corruption, suffered heavy losses in Sunday's elections.

"The main factors behind Radev's victory were deep frustration over years of fruitless efforts to fight corruption, concerns about rising prices... and a strong mix of pro-Russian sentiment," said Atanas Rusev, director of the security program at the Center for the Study of Democracy in Sofia.

"Radev played on all those fears very skillfully."

Presidential mandates helped build image

Radev was first sworn in as president in January 2017, after a military career and training in the United States. During his first term, he became a critic of then-Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who was facing corruption charges.

When prosecutors raided Radev's offices in 2020, Bulgarians saw the move as a political showdown, sparking the biggest protests since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007. Those protests signaled the end of Borisov's rule, while Radev was re-elected for a second presidential term in 2021.

A period of political crisis followed, during which weak coalitions struggled to hold on to power. Protests erupted again last year, fueled by a new budget that included high taxes.

There is no indication that Radev would block aid to Ukraine or try to take the country out of the eurozone, and analysts do not believe he would do anything that would jeopardize much-needed EU funds earmarked for Bulgaria.

When the government resigned, Radev announced that he would step down as president and run for parliament.

During the campaign, he faced criticism for his unclear message, and many voters believed he lacked charisma, which was also evident in his posters, which lacked creativity.

Still, he managed to project an image of strength, including through Facebook videos of him flying fighter jets.

Numerous challenges

Voters, analysts and diplomats are waiting to see how pro-Russian Rumen Radev's government will be. At his final campaign rally last week, he displayed photos of himself with world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, on a big screen.

His campaign drew comparisons to pro-Russian former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, when he spoke of restoring the free flow of Russian oil and gas to Europe.

"I'm very worried, because if he's so pro-Russian, it could be very problematic," said Tsvetan Hristov, 36, who works in the IT sector.

However, there is no indication so far that he would block aid to Ukraine or try to take the country out of the eurozone, and analysts do not believe he would do anything that would jeopardize much-needed EU funds earmarked for Bulgaria.

His biggest challenges lie at home, in one of the EU's poorest and most corrupt members, where prosecutors allege that hundreds of millions of euros in European funds have ended up in the pockets of businessmen and officials, that public tenders have been rigged and that electoral fraud is widespread.

“Given his landslide victory at home, he will likely now seek to secure external legitimacy by building relationships with other European leaders,” said Maria Simeonova, head of the European Council on Foreign Relations office in Sofia.