BULGARIA'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION HEADS TO RUN-OFF

Bulgaria's presidential election headed for a 1 November run-off after Sunday's vote failed to meet the turnout threshold for a first-round victory. Exit polls put incumbent President Iliana Yotova on 35 to 36.5 per cent and former caretaker prime minister Andrey Gyurov on 31 to 33.5 per cent. The Measure polling agency estimated turnout at 22.2 per cent at 8pm local time, when polling stations closed. A first-round winner needed more than half the votes and turnout above 50 per cent of registered voters. Official results were expected within 48 hours.

Yotova became president in January after serving as vice president, and Prime Minister Rumen Radev's Progressive Bulgaria party backs her candidacy. She also has the Socialist Party's backing and has called for dialogue with Moscow over the war in Ukraine. Gyurov supports Bulgaria's ties with the European Union and NATO and signed a security cooperation agreement with Kyiv while serving as caretaker prime minister. Twenty-seven pairs of candidates for president and vice president contested the first round. Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of the Vazrazhdane party, was polling in third place before voting.

Drone strikes on ships off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast featured in the campaign, alongside energy costs and inflation. Both Yotova and Gyurov condemned the strikes. Bulgaria's president can appoint interim governments during political crises, command the armed forces and veto legislation. Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said the election “took place peacefully, without the usual practices of vote buying and vote manipulation”. Yotova voted in Sofia, while Gyurov cast his ballot in Blagoevgrad.