Ilyana Yotova becomes the first woman president in Bulgaria’s history

Ilyana Yotova won Bulgaria’s presidential election, making history as the first woman to lead the country.

The 62-year-old politician won Sunday’s vote alongside vice-presidential candidate Valchev. The pair received 57.58% of the vote.

With 99.95% of polling stations counted, Yotova and Valchev had secured approximately 1.1 million votes. Their opponents, Andrei Gurov and Georgi Kantev, received 39.47%, or about 749,500 votes. Voter turnout was low.

Yotova studied at the Department of Bulgarian Philology at Sofia University. She began her career as a journalist and spent several years at Bulgarian National Television as a reporter, editor and presenter before heading its news department.

She later joined the Bulgarian Socialist Party’s communications department and was elected to the National Assembly. Between 2007 and 2017, Yotova served in the European Parliament, where she worked on consumer protection, fisheries, citizens’ petitions and civil liberties.

In 2017, she was elected vice president of Bulgaria alongside Rumen Radev. Five years later, she began her second term in the post, which she held for nine years.

Radev left the presidency in January to run for prime minister. His party, Progressive Bulgaria, won decisively and formed the first stable government after several years of political turmoil. Bulgaria’s constitution gives the prime minister more powers than the president.

Yotova’s victory could affect Bulgaria’s approach to the war in Ukraine, including in light of her views on relations with Moscow.

Like her predecessor Radev, the new president has supported a diplomatic resolution to the conflict and said peace can be achieved only through negotiations. She has opposed further strengthening Kyiv’s military capabilities.

In the final days of the campaign, Yotova said everyone should talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin, describing herself as a “president of peace.”

Despite expressing these views on Russia, Yotova does not question Bulgaria’s membership in the European Union and NATO. She has called for an independent foreign policy and for decisions to be guided above all by the national interest.

Low turnout and the election result have sparked debate about the influence of pro-Russian political forces in the country. The far-right Revival party claimed that mobilizing its supporters was one factor in Yotova’s victory, the Financial Times reported.