Bulgarian President Rumen Radev painted a bleak picture of Bulgarian politics when he announced his resignation on Monday in an unprecedented move that ends four years of weak governments and early elections. He also offered a solution - himself, BTA reported, citing "Reuters".
"Our democracy will not survive if we leave it to corrupt people, conciliators and extremists", Radev said in a televised speech. "Your trust obliges me to defend the statehood, the institutions and our future", he added.
Radev – a former air force commander - has been waiting for this moment for years. Since the political crisis erupted in 2020, he has stood above parliamentary squabbles, appointing caretaker governments when necessary, and gradually built up influence as the head of state of the Balkan state, whose role is largely ceremonial.
Now that polls show Radev is the most popular Bulgarian politician, he is widely expected to form a new party and run in parliamentary elections this spring.
Radev has not yet announced his intentions to run, but time seems to be working in his favor.
Public protests against corruption and a budget that provided for higher taxes led to the resignation of the last government in December, and voters are increasingly tired of the small elite of politicians who have dominated for years. It includes former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, leader of the ruling GERB party, and oligarch Delyan Peevski, sanctioned by the US and UK for corruption.
Radev still faces the big challenge of turning around the fortunes of one of the poorest and most corrupt members of the European Union, where, according to the prosecutor's office, hundreds of millions of euros of European funds have been diverted into the pockets of businessmen and officials, public procurement has been manipulated, and people have become so disillusioned that most do not even bother to vote.
Voter turnout fell from nearly 50% in April 2021 to below 35% in the early elections in June 2024.
This challenge has also extended to Radev's personal image. He will have to answer questions about his pro-Kremlin stance on the war in Ukraine, his skepticism of the euro and even the conclusion of an allegedly damaging energy deal signed by a government he appointed.
“Radev offers Bulgarian society the opportunity for change, but also predictability - this is the perfect formula“, said Parvan Simeonov, founder of the Bulgarian sociological agency “Myara“. “Nevertheless, there are questions and problems that need to be answered“, he added.
QUESTIONS RADEV MUST ANSWER
Radev was elected president in 2016, after a military career and training in the United States. During his first term, he became a critic of then-Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who was under pressure over corruption allegations.
When police raided Radev’s presidential offices in 2020, Bulgarians saw the move as a political coup, sparking the biggest demonstrations since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007. The months-long protests called for an end to corruption, more accountability and the resignation of the government. Radev was re-elected for a second term in 2021.
The protests ended Borisov’s rule, but what followed was a political crisis in which weak coalitions struggled to hold on to power for months at a time. This spring’s elections will be the eighth in four years.
Corruption continues: Last year alone, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office opened 97 investigations in Bulgaria into abuses worth nearly 500 million euros.
Critics have said Radev is partly to blame for controversial deals made by caretaker governments he has appointed. This includes a gas deal between Turkish state gas company Botas and Bulgarian Bulgargaz in 2023 that led to losses and an investigation.
A NEED FOR COALITION PARTNERS
Radev is popular, but not enough to win an outright majority, analysts said.
Many of them foresee a possible coalition with the reformist PP-DB party, which also openly opposes corruption. However, the party disagrees with Radev's soft stance towards Russia, as well as his reluctance to join the eurozone, which Bulgaria did on January 1.
Radev will also have to clarify his position on Ukraine, after a series of favorable statements about the Kremlin in recent years. He clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit in 2023, when he said that military aid to Kiev would only prolong the conflict.
“God forbid that a tragedy happens and you are in my place,“ Zelensky told him live on television. “Are you going to say: “Putin, seize Bulgarian territories“?“, the Ukrainian president asked.