Who Is Rumen Radev? Know every detail inside Bulgaria’s biggest political shift

Rumen Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria coalition poised to win Sunday’s parliamentary elections with 44.6% of the vote, according to preliminary results released after 100% of protocols were processed by Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission CEC.

CEC announced that with 100% of protocols processed, Progressive Bulgaria has 44.6% support, followed by GERB-SDF with 13.4%

Other parties included MECh with 3.2%, Velichie with 3.1%, BSP-OL with 3.0%, and Siyanie with 2.9%.

APS received 1.6%, ITN 0.7%, and SB 0.6%, the preliminary results showed.

As per CEC data are based on 100% of protocols processed from section election commissions across the country.

In 2025, Radev supported anti-corruption protests that brought down the conservative-backed government of former Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov. He urged voters to turn out in large numbers to counter vote-buying.

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms DPS obtained around 7.0%, followed by Vazrazhdane with 4.3%.

At a pre-election rally on Wednesday last week, he pledged to “remove the corrupt, oligarchic model of governance from political power”.

Sunday’s vote marked Bulgaria’s eighth parliamentary election since 2021.

Under Bulgaria’s Electoral Code, the commission must announce final vote totals and seat distribution within four days of election day, while the names of elected members of parliament must be published within seven days.

The former Air Force commander who served as Bulgaria’s president from 2017 until his resignation in 2026, launched the Progressive Bulgaria coalition earlier this year after stepping down to run in the parliamentary elections.

The 62 years Radev served as Bulgaria’s president for nearly a decade before stepping down in January this year to launch his bid to become prime minister.

The former air force commander has positioned himself as an outsider, saying he wants to rid the country of its “oligarchic governance model”, amid widespread frustration with corruption and political turmoil that has gripped the country of 6.6 million people.

In 2025, Radev supported anti-corruption protests that brought down the conservative-backed government of former Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov. He urged voters to turn out in large numbers to counter vote-buying.

Notably,the newly poised Bulgarian Prime minister, Rumen Radev served as the President of Bulgaria from January 2017- 2026.