Sawt Falasteen - Bulgaria's ex-president leads in snap vote: exit polls

Radev, who resigned as president in January, ran on a pledge to fight corruption after an anti-graft movement triggered a long political crisis.

The European Union's poorest member has seen successive governments since 2021, when anti-graft rallies ended the conservative administration of longtime leader Boyko Borissov.

Progressive Bulgaria came in well ahead of the conservative GERB party of former premier Borissov, which slumped to around 16 percent, and the liberal PP-DB coalition at around 14 percent, according to two exit polls.

Radev, who has called for renewing ties with Russia and opposes military aid to Ukraine, was president for nine years in the Balkan nation of 6.5 million people before stepping down to lead the new centre-left Progressive Bulgaria group of parties.

The former air force general, 62, has said he wants to rid the country of its "oligarchic governance model". He backed new anti-corruption protests last year that brought down the latest conservative-backed government.

"Everything simply has to change," Stiliana Andonova, a retired engineer, told AFP after casting her ballot in Sofia, listing "the judicial system" and "corruption" among concerns.

- 'Practical relations with Russia' -

Shortly before polling stations closed at 1700 GMT, Radev arrived at his group's headquarters.

As he entered the office, where windows were covered with campaign branding featuring his portrait, he was greeted with applause by his team waiting inside, an AFP reporter saw.

He is expected to make a statement later Sunday.

After voting earlier in Sofia, Radev said Bulgaria has "a historic chance to break once and for all with the... oligarchic model". He called for a "democratic, modern, European Bulgaria".

He also said he hoped for "practical relations with Russia, based on mutual respect and equal treatment".

Radev has denounced a 10-year defence agreement signed last month between Bulgaria and Ukraine, which has been battling Russia's full-scale invasion since 2022.

He has also opposed Bulgaria sending arms to Ukraine, though he has said he would not use his country's veto to block EU decisions.

Borissov, who headed the country virtually uninterrupted for close to a decade, has dismissed suggestions that Radev brings something "new".

After voting in his hometown Bankya, just outside of Sofia, Borissov hailed his party for having "extremely pro-European position," underlining its support for Ukraine and Brussels.

"There is a huge risk that Bulgaria could change its geopolitical course and orientation," Gergana Mihailova, a 47-year-old finance expert, told AFP after casting her vote.

- High turnout -

A lack of trust in politics has weighed on voter turnout, which slumped to 39 percent in the last election in 2024.

But with Radev rallying voters, a higher turnout is expected this time, according to analyst Boryana Dimitrova from the Alpha Research polling institute.

Political parties had called on Bulgarians to show up for the polls, also to curb the impact of vote buying.

In recent weeks, police have seized more than one million euros in raids against vote buying in stepped-up operations.

They have also detained hundreds of people, including local councillors and mayors.

W.Mansour--SF-PST