Bulgarian ex-president Rumen Radev’s formation has come first in the eighth parliamentary elections in five years on Sunday, according to exit polls, but without securing a majority.
Radev, who resigned as president in January, ran on a pledge to fight corruption after an anti-graft movement triggered a long political crisis.
The EU’s poorest member has seen successive governments since 2021, when anti-graft rallies ended the conservative administration of longtime leader Boyko Borissov.
Progressive Bulgaria came in well ahead of the conservative GERB party of former premier Borissov, which slumped to around 16%, and the liberal PP-DB coalition at around 14%, according to two exit polls.
Radev, who has called for renewing ties with Russia and opposes military aid to Ukraine, served as president of the Balkan nation of 6.5 million people for nine years before stepping down to lead the new centre-left Progressive Bulgaria group of parties.
The former air force general has said he…
