Bulgaria’s Yotova on track to win presidential runoff in exit polls

Exit polls show Bulgaria's acting President Iliana Yotova on track to win the presidential runoff, securing 58.1% of the vote, according to a Trend survey with 100% of its parallel count completed.

Her pro-Western challenger, Andrey Gyurov, got 38.9% in the same poll. A separate Myara survey for broadcaster NOVA put Yotova at 58.2% and Gyurov at 38.6%.

The clear margin gives Yotova a substantial lead over Gyurov, an economist who served as caretaker prime minister in the months before April's parliamentary elections.

Yotova improved on her first-round result from last weekend, when she and running mate Kiril Valchev finished with 34.76% against Gyurov and Georgi Kandev at 31.95%. Her campaign emphasized no additional arms support for Ukraine and instead called for peace through a diplomatic solution, in contrast to her rival.

The election follows April's parliamentary vote, in which Progressive Bulgaria, led by former President Rumen Radev, won 131 of the National Assembly's 240 seats and an outright majority.

Yotova, who previously served as Radev's vice president, assumed the acting presidency after he resigned in January. Progressive Bulgaria has backed her bid for a full five-year mandate.

Gyurov, a former deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, had warned during the campaign that a Yotova victory would leave no real counterweight at the top of the state, since Progressive Bulgaria already controls the government.

On the EU and security policy, he criticized the government's hesitation, reduced support for Ukraine, and slow coordination with NATO and EU partners, arguing that the approach has left Bulgaria more exposed and turned it into a weak link on the alliance's eastern flank.