Rumen Radev, the former president of Bulgaria, promises to end the political crisis

By Edward McAllister and Stoyan Nenov

SOFIA, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Rumen Radev painted a bleak picture of Bulgarian politics when he resigned as president on Monday, ending four years of weak government and snap elections. He also offers a solution: himself.

“Our democracy will not survive if we leave it in the hands of corrupt officials, conspirators and extremists,” he said in a televised speech. “Your faith compels me to defend the state, the institution and our future.”

Radev, a former air force commander, has waited years for this moment. Since the political crisis began in 2020, he has stayed above parliamentary turmoil, appointing caretaker governments when necessary, and slowly gathering influence as the Balkan country’s formal head of state.

Now, with polls showing him as Bulgaria’s most popular politician, he is expected to form a new party and run in parliamentary elections this spring.

Radev has yet to announce his intention to run, but time seems to be on his side.

Popular protests against corruption and a proposed budget with high taxes ousted the last government in December, and voters are increasingly sick of the small elite of politicians who have dominated for years. These include former prime minister Boyko Borisov, who runs the main GERB party, and oligarch Delyan Pivskyi, who is under US and UK sanctions for corruption.

Still, he faces a major challenge to turn around the fortunes of the poorest and most corrupt members of the European Union, where prosecutors allege that tens of millions of euros in European funds have been siphoned off from businessmen and officials, fixed public tenders, and misled people into not voting.

Voter turnout fell from nearly 50% in April 2021 to less than 35% in a June 2024 snap election.

The challenge extends to Radev’s own personal image. He will face questions about his pro-Kremlin stance on the war in Ukraine, his skepticism about the euro, and the allegedly damaging energy deal signed by the government he appointed.

“Radev offers the potential for change in Bulgarian society, but also predictability – it’s a perfect recipe,” said Parvan Simonov, founder of Bulgarian polling agency Myra. “However, there are issues and questions that must be answered.”

Questions for RADEV to answer

Radev was voted in as 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 Borissov, who was under pressure from corruption allegations.

When police raided Radev’s office in 2020, Bulgarians saw the move as a hit-and-run and it sparked the biggest protests since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007. Months of protests have called for an end to corruption, more accountability and the government to step down. Radev, meanwhile, was re-elected for a second term in 2021.

The protests saw the end of Borisov’s tenure, but what followed was a political crisis in which weak coalitions struggled to last for only a few months. This spring will be the eighth election in four years.

The graft continues: last year alone, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office opened 97 investigations in Bulgaria with losses of around 500 million euros.

Critics say Radev is partly to blame for the questionable behavior of the interim governments he appointed. These include a 2023 gas contract between Turkey’s state gas company Botas and Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz that led to the losses and investigations.

Alliance partners are essential

Radev is popular but not enough to win a clear majority, analysts said.

Many pointed to a possible marriage with the reformist PP-DB party, which has also spoken out against corruption. Still, the party does not agree with Radev’s soft stance toward Russia, or his reluctance to join the eurozone, which Bulgaria did on Jan. 1.

Radev will also have to clarify his stance on Ukraine after a series of Kremlin-friendly statements in recent years. He clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a meeting in 2023 when he said military aid to Kiev would only prolong the conflict.

“God forbid such a tragedy should happen (here) and you would be in my place,” Zelensky said on live TV. “Are you going to say “Putin, take the Bulgarian territories”?”

(Writing by Edward McAllister Editing by Alexandra Hudson)