Bulgaria’s President Radev resigns earlier than new parliamentary elections | EUROtoday

As of: January 20, 2026 12:53 a.m

The authorities in Bulgaria has already resigned. There isn’t any date for brand spanking new elections but, however there may be one other resignation: President Radev needs to retire from workplace – however not essentially from politics.

Many Bulgarians agree: The undeniable fact that Rumen Radev is stepping down as president doesn’t imply that he’s withdrawing from the political stage – quite the opposite. He might surrender his predominantly consultant workplace in an effort to actively form the nation himself. It is predicted that Radev, who’s at present unbiased of a celebration, might quickly be part of a celebration, participate within the parliamentary election marketing campaign and attempt to change into prime minister and thus head of presidency.

Rumen Radev has not but stated this straight. But his phrases throughout his resignation speech this Monday did not actually sound like a resignation from politics.

Radev sees no guilt in himself

Radev is referring to his two phrases in workplace since 2017. Especially in recent times, Bulgaria has been extraordinarily politically unstable. Radev needed to appoint interim governments seven instances.

But in his view, Radev was to not blame for the various authorities resignations. And now he appears to be promoting himself as somebody who can present stability sooner or later. “The belief that we can do it together is one of the main reasons for my decision to step down as president. The battle for the future of the homeland is before us, and I believe that we will fight it together with you, the worthy, the inspiring and the intransigent,” he stated.

The undeniable fact that Bulgaria is now a member of the Schengen space and the Eurozone has not introduced any stability or satisfaction. He sees the issue within the “faulty government model,” stated Radew. “While it has surface democratic features, it actually functions according to the mechanisms of oligarchy.”

Corruption scandal – simply not with Radev

Many demonstrators who overthrew the federal government in mid-December additionally accused the federal government of being undemocratic and described it as a mafia gang. The conservative ruling get together GERB, which is accused of corruption, was notably criticized. The oligarch Deljan Peewski was additionally accused of corruption and influencing the judiciary. The authorities is claimed to have been depending on his get together.

In distinction, the non-party President Radev had no actual corruption scandals. Only an interim authorities he put collectively was accused of damaging Bulgaria financially by means of an unfavorable contract with a Turkish vitality firm.

“The most popular politician in the country”

Before turning into president, Radev was within the army and was a normal within the air power. And he would have likelihood of profitable the parliamentary election, says Ruslan Stefanov, an economist on the Center for Democracy Studies in Sofia.

“He is the most popular politician in the country. He won the presidential elections with the anti-corruption ticket and he has always been in opposition to the government,” stated Stefanov. But the query arises: “If Radev comes to power, what will happen to Bulgaria’s support for Ukraine?”

A troublesome accomplice for the EU?

While the GERB-led authorities was all the time clearly in favor of army assist for Ukraine, President Radev all the time sounded one thing completely different. “I have long noted that there is no military solution to the war in Ukraine and that diplomacy should be preferred,” Radev stated. “Unfortunately, we wasted valuable time, during which hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives and during which Ukraine’s economy was ruined.”

Economic knowledgeable Stefanov fears that with Radev as head of presidency, Bulgaria might change into a harder accomplice for the EU. “Then we would have one more voice on the table in Europe that would take the position of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and say: Ukraine is losing, we are provoking war, we are to blame.”

In Bulgaria individuals are actually eagerly awaiting the date for the brand new elections. It will most likely happen in March or April and it’s anticipated that Rumen Radev will quickly be part of a celebration and announce his participation within the election.