Bulgaria’s Sunday runoff put two presidential tickets’ competing views on Ukraine and Black Sea defense before voters as the government said drone attacks had raised shipping insurance costs.
Incumbent President Iliana Iotova and running mate Kiril Valchev faced former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov and running mate Georgi Kandev. Central Election Commission (CEC) results show Iotova and Valchev received 528,951 votes, or 34.760%, in the Oct. 25 first round. Gyurov and Kandev received 486,232 votes, or 31.953%. First-round turnout was 22.98%.
By 4 a.m. ET (09:00 UTC), equivalent to 11 a.m. local time, 405,270 of 6,637,274 registered voters had cast ballots, a turnout of 6.11%, CEC data showed. At the same point in the first round, turnout was 5.80%.
In a televised Oct. 29 debate carried by Bulgarian National Television, Iotova argued that more funding and weapons for Ukraine would bring further destruction. She said “peace can come only through negotiations.” Gyurov said borders must not be changed by force and argued that a Black Sea moratorium could not replace defense. “Calling for a moratorium is not a defence strategy, and silence is not defence,” he said.
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defense said a drone hit the Liberian-flagged Contship Jet on Oct. 28, about 17 nautical miles east of Cape Kaliakra. The Transport Ministry said all 18 crew members were rescued. In an Oct. 13 statement about earlier attacks, the government said it had no conclusive evidence identifying those drones’ origin. It also said attacks raised shipping insurance costs and led some carriers to refuse cargo bound for Bulgarian ports, without giving a cost estimate. The government assessed that the attacks benefit Russia and impose economic and financial losses on Bulgaria, including greater cost and risk for oil deliveries to Burgas.
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defense said Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye agreed to expand information sharing and early-warning cooperation. Political-level talks were planned in Bucharest and military-expert talks in Ankara, with no dates announced.
Before the first round, Deutsche Welle reported on what an Iotova victory might mean for Prime Minister Rumen Radev’s approach to Ukraine. EconoTimes previously summarized that assessment in its coverage of the election’s Ukraine debate. The Associated Press reported that official results were expected Monday.
