Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has announced that he will resign before early parliamentary elections are held in the spring, in a new twist in the political crisis that has destabilized the country for five years, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
After part of the Bulgarian population rose up against corruption, the Balkan country – member of NATO and since January 1 of the eurozone - was mired in political instability.
In mid-December 2025, the coalition government led by the conservative GERB party resigned after anti-corruption protests in the capital Sofia and other cities, supported by Rumen Radev, AFP notes.
In a televised address tonight, the president blamed the “vicious model of governance“, which “ "has the outward signs of democracy, but in fact functions according to the mechanisms of oligarchy," Agence France-Presse also pointed out.
Radev's resignation fueled speculation that he would form his own political party to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, Reuters reported.
The president, who has expressed skepticism about Bulgaria's recent move to join the eurozone and has taken positions favorable to the Kremlin regarding the war in Ukraine, was elected president in 2016 and re-elected in 2021. But his political ambitions have broadened and he has long discussed the possibility of forming his own party to bring stability and fight against the status quo in one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the EU, Reuters noted.
Radev's resignation - the first of a head of state in Bulgaria's post-communist history - comes as the country struggles to overcome a prolonged political crisis, the Associated Press reports.
The president - whose second term ends at the end of 2026 - has repeatedly signaled that he may run for re-election. The 62-year-old former Air Force general was a vocal opponent of GERB party leader Boyko Borisov and of US- and UK-sanctioned politician and oligarch Delyan Peevski, whose DPS-New Beginning party repeatedly supported the GERB-led coalition.
The Russian news agency TASS briefly reported the Bulgarian president's resignation and indicated his intention to take part in the early parliamentary elections, which became inevitable after the parties in parliament refused to take action to form a new government.
According to political analysts, a new political force headed by Radev is likely to significantly change the Bulgarian political landscape, DPA notes. Its entry into parliament is considered certain, meaning that smaller parties will not pass the 4 percent barrier.