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Bulgaria's election winner Rumen Radev receives mandate to form government

By Reuters Reuters
Rumen Radev, former Bulgarian president and leader of Progressive Bulgaria coalition, votes during the parliamentary election, in Sofia, Bulgaria. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
Rumen Radev, former Bulgarian president and leader of Progressive Bulgaria coalition, votes during the parliamentary election, in Sofia, Bulgaria. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov Stoyan Nenov Reuters
A man walks past an election billboard of the Progressive Bulgaria coalition's leader and former President Rumen Radev, ahead of the snap election, in Sofia, Bulgaria, April 14, 2026. REUTERS/Spasiyana Sergieva
A man walks past an election billboard of the Progressive Bulgaria coalition's leader and former President Rumen Radev, ahead of the snap election, in Sofia, Bulgaria, April 14, 2026. REUTERS/Spasiyana Sergieva Spasiyana Sergieva Reuters




SOFIA - Bulgaria's election winner Rumen Radev received the mandate to form a new government on Thursday after his Progressive Bulgaria comfortably won a parliamentary election last month, the eighth in the past five years.

President Iliana Iotova on Thursday offered Radev, a eurosceptic former fighter pilot, the position of prime minister after his nomination by Progressive Bulgaria, which won 44.6% of the vote in the parliamentary election on April 19.

(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 7:13 AM.

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