Bulgaria's acting President Iliana Yotova has headed towards a decisive victory in presidential runoff against main challenger Andrey Gyurov, according to exit polls released as voting concluded.
Completed parallel counts conducted by five leading polling agencies placed Yotova's share of the vote at between 56.6 percent and 58.2 percent, compared with 38.6 percent to 40.6 percent for Gyurov.
"We accept the results, no matter how surprising they are," Gyurov told a press conference in Sofia, adding that whilst the campaign is ending, the broader responsibility remains.
Yotova, a veteran figure within the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), improved significantly on her first-round performance from the previous weekend, when she secured 34.76 percent against Gyurov's 31.95 percent.
In sharp contrast to her rival, her platform firmly opposed any additional military arms supplies to Ukraine, calling instead for peace through negotiated diplomatic avenues.
Shift in power
The presidential ballot follows April’s parliamentary election in which Progressive Bulgaria, led by former President Rumen Radev, captured 131 of the National Assembly's 240 seats to secure an absolute majority.
Yotova, who previously served as Radev’s vice president, assumed the acting presidency after his resignation in January, with Progressive Bulgaria endorsing her candidacy for a full five-year term.
Gyurov, a former deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, had warned during the campaign that a Yotova victory would leave no effective institutional counterweight at the head of state, noting that Progressive Bulgaria already controls the government.
Focusing on European Union integration and regional security policy, Gyurov repeatedly criticised the administration's stance, citing reduced aid to Ukraine and sluggish coordination with EU allies.
He argued that the government's approach has left Bulgaria increasingly vulnerable, turning the country into a weak link along NATO's eastern flank.
