Bulgarian PM Resigns Following Presidential Election

President-elect Radev, a former Air Force Commander, seeks to mend ties with Russia.

On November 14, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced his government’s resignation midway through its four-year term, following the results of the presidential election on November 6. The election brought Socialist Party candidate Rumen Radev to power with a commanding 59 percent of the vote. Radev, a former air force commander, is a newcomer in the political sphere and believes that Bulgaria should drop its sanctions on Russia and seek closer economic ties with Moscow in order to improve Bulgaria’s economy.

Radev’s election can be seen as a rejection of the center-left and nationalist politics of Borisov’s GERB party, which many Bulgarians believe has failed to address problems such as the economy and corruption. Radev also courted nationalists through his opposition to the European Union’s Syrian refugee resettlement plan.

Borisov’s resignation was unanimously approved by Bulgaria’s parliament on November 16, and Rudev is expected to appoint a transition government that will govern until new parliamentary elections are held in April.

Bulgaria’s rejection of pro- European Union policies and globalist politics may be symptomatic of a wider trend across Eastern Europe. On the same day that Rudev came to power, Moldovans chose strongly pro-Russian candidate Igor Dodon to serve as their president. Eastern Europeans seem dissatisfied with the results of pro-Europe politics and might be turning back to old ties with Russia out of desperation. However, this could threaten the stability of the region, and it remains to see how both the EU and Russia will react to these new political trends