Comment by Bulgarian historian Alexander Stoyanov*:
Everyone will now write about Radev, but I will write about something else. The last time a woman was the de facto head of state of Bulgaria was in the period 1277-1278, when Tsarina Maria Kantakouzena-Palaeologina ruled the country between the death of Tsar Constantine Tikh Asen and the accession of Ivaylo.
At that time, the country was in a state of civil war, and its territories were threatened by invasions by Romans and Tatars. Maria is also pressured by the boyars, who see her as a continuation of Byzantine policy in Bulgaria, although she herself has the ambition to rule independently and not hand over her kingdom to her uncle Michael VIII, who sees her as a mere decoration.
It is precisely her desire to be independent and to personally manage political processes that prompts her to marry Ivaylo and use him as a shield against the aristocracy, the Romans, and the Tatars, given the fact that he is the only one who possesses a combat-ready army that is not dependent on these three opposing factions.
Unfortunately for her, the plan does not work - Ivaylo has too many enemies, the aristocracy is in complete opposition, and the enemy armies cannot be repelled. In 1279, the boyars accepted the Byzantine protégé John Asen III and sent the dethroned queen back to her uncle Michael VIII, where Maria was placed under house arrest and remained isolated from power until the vassal's death in 1282.
Now, for the first time in nearly 750 years, Bulgaria would have a female head of state. Iliyana Iotova was anything but a highly educated Byzantine princess with diplomatic acumen. However, it is up to us that our next head of state is not a swineherd, doomed to throw our country into a political abyss for a quarter of a century, just like Ivaylo did.
*His comment was made after Rumen Radev's resignation today. The president will submit his resignation tomorrow. He announced this in an address to the Bulgarian people. I am convinced that Iliyana Yotova will be a worthy head of state, Radev said.