„We Continue the Change“ will not participate in party negotiations for the election of the president, said the party leader Assen Vassilev after the first round of the presidential elections. According to him, the formation's candidate Andrey Gyurov must receive support directly from Bulgarian citizens, and not through agreements between political forces.
With 99.95% of the protocols counted, the pairs Iliyana Yotova – Kiril Valchev and Andrey Gyurov – Georgi Kandev qualify for the runoff. Yotova and Valchev receive 34.759% of the votes, and Gyurov and Kandev – 31.953%. Kostadin Kostadinov and Petar Volgin are third with 12.544%, followed by Radostin Vassilev and Krasimir Manov with 4.608%.
„Deals should not be made in party headquarters and in this way a president of the country should be elected. The president of the country should be elected by the Bulgarian citizens“, said Assen Vassilev.When asked whether Andrey Gyurov should officially ask for support from other political forces, Vassilev replied that the candidate had already done the most important thing – he had turned to the citizens. The PP leader added that he makes a distinction between forming a government and electing a head of state.
Vassilev harshly criticized Prime Minister Rumen Radev. He accused him of using the Council of Ministers as a party headquarters, scaring the public with war and failing to guarantee national security. According to him, Radev must take a clear position on international issues and maintain active cooperation with NATO allies.
“The war was brought to Bulgaria by Rumen Radev and Iliyana Yotova“, said the PP leader, without providing specific data to support the claim. He called for a firmer response to violations of Bulgarian maritime and airspace.
Dispute over the agreement with Ukraine
Vasilev also disputed Radev's claim that Andrey Gyurov had signed a military agreement with Ukraine without a mandate. The PP leader recalled a statement by the Prime Minister from July 3, 2026, according to which the document did not contain specific commitments, quantities or deadlines.
Vasilev also questioned the readiness of the Bulgarian army to respond to incidents involving ships and drones. He said that the country still does not have the necessary anti-drone system, although there has been talk of one since 2021.
“I have done my job as finance minister. I have given them the money. Why do we not have a protection system right now?“, asked Vassilev.He said that as finance minister he had doubled the army's budget and demanded an answer on how the allocated funds were used and to what extent the country is prepared to protect its airspace.
Sources: nova.bg