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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Veselin Toshkov

Bulgaria's pro-Russian former president is seen as strong front-runner in Sunday's election

Bulgaria Election - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Bulgarians are heading to a new early election that could bring to power a left-leaning ex-president just days after Hungarian voters rejected the authoritarian policies and global far-right movement of Viktor Orbán.

Rumen Radev 's new coalition is seen as favored to win most of the votes in the April 19 poll, with some voters hoping that this could put an end to the country’s oligarchic corruption, while others are lining up behind Radev’s Eurosceptic and pro-Russian views.

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