Bulgaria heads to November 1 presidential runoff after turnout falls below 40%

Bulgaria will hold a presidential runoff on November 1 after Sunday's first-round vote drew turnout below the 50% threshold required for an outright result to stand.

Turnout was estimated at just 15.1% by 3 p.m. local time, according to polling agency Myara. Polling stations closed at 8 p.m., with official results expected within 48 hours.

Incumbent President Iliana Yotova, 62, led surveys with 41-47% of the vote. She favours dialogue with Moscow as the path to peace in Ukraine and opposes military aid to Kyiv. A victory would make her Bulgaria's first elected female president. She took office this year after then-President Rumen Radev stepped down to contest parliamentary elections.

Yotova's main challenger is Andrey Gyurov, 50, a former caretaker prime minister polling at 28-31%. Gyurov, backed by the pro-Western opposition, is an outspoken critic of Radev's foreign policy and strongly supports Bulgaria's Euro-Atlantic ties. As caretaker prime minister he signed a security cooperation agreement with Kyiv.

Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of the pro-Russian far-right Vazrazhdane party, placed third at 10-13%. Altogether 27 pairs of candidates competed in the first round, with nearly half openly pro-Kremlin.

The war in Ukraine dominated the campaign, particularly after four merchant ships were allegedly struck by drones off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast this month in suspected spillover from the conflict. Bulgaria, an EU and NATO member state, has sought allied assistance to strengthen maritime security in response.