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

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — 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.

Radev resigned from the mostly ceremonial presidency in January, a few months before the end of his second term in office, to launch a bid to lead the government as prime minister.

The 62-year-old former fighter pilot and air force commander is seen as Bulgaria’s most popular politician and has promised to give the nation a fresh start if his center-left Progressive Bulgaria coalition wins the upcoming election.

Sunday’s snap vote follows the resignation of a conservative-led government amid nationwide anti-corruption protests in December 2025 that drew hundreds of thousands of mainly young people to the streets.

Bulgaria, a European Union and NATO member country with a population of 6.5 million, joined the eurozone on Jan. 1 this year shortly after entering the border-free Schengen travel area. But it has been plagued by political instability since 2021, when three-time conservative Prime Minister Boyko Borissov resigned following massive protests fueled by anger over widespread corruption and injustice.

Since then, no government has survived for more than a year before being brought down by street protests or backroom deals in parliament, resulting in seven inconclusive early elections in five years. That's led to growing mistrust in the institutions, voter apathy and a shrinking turnout at the elections.

Last month, Bulgaria requested the assistance of the EU diplomatic service to counter Russian attempts to influence public opinion through social media networks and propaganda websites. The request was based on expert warnings about active networks of Russian influence accounts that seek to sow division.

Opinion polls predict Sunday's turnout to jump from an average of 35% in the last few elections to over 50%, partly because a new player has joined the race, but also due to efforts by the interim government to boost confidence in the vote with nationwide police raids, arrests and pretrial proceedings for vote-buying.

Most polls predict that Radev’s coalition could get more than 30% of the vote, putting him nearly 10% ahead of his closest rival — Borissov, the veteran leader of the center-right GERB party whose most recent term as prime minister was ended by the December 2025 protests. Most polls report margins of error from 3 to 3.5%.

Radev has cast himself as an opponent of the country’s entrenched mafia and its ties to high-ranking politicians. At the latest preelection rally on Wednesday, he vowed to “remove the corrupt, oligarchic model of governance from political power.”

Polls suggest that Radev is likely to come in first, but will need a partner to form a stable governing coalition. He's ruled out an alliances with Borissov’s GERB or with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms party, whose leader Delyan Peevski has been sanctioned for corruption by both the United States and Britain.

A possible coalition partner for such reforms in domestic politics could be the pro-Western bloc “We Continue the Change,” which is predicted to come in third with 12%-14 % of the votes.

However, there are significant foreign policy issues that could prevent such cooperation, including the ongoing controversy surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine: while officially denouncing Moscow’s aggression, Radev has repeatedly opposed military aid to Kyiv and has favored reopening talks with Russia as a way out of the conflict.

Evelina Slavkova, from research center Trend, said Radev was unlikely to make a serious effort to reorient Bulgaria more toward Russia.

“Our country has succeeded, despite all the obstacles, despite disagreements among some politicians, in building a very important set of tools that keeps Bulgaria on the right track,” she said in an interview with the AP.

Slavkova said the country’s membership in NATO and the EU, as well as it place in the eurozone and the Schengen Area, are “tools that allow us to be much more at ease.”

She also noted that during the campaign Radev avoided giving definitive yes- or no-answers while seeking some balance between the two positions.

“This might be acceptable during a campaign, but when you’re running the country, you’ll certainly have to provide clear, definitive answers” Slavkova said.

Valentina Petrova in Sofia, Bulgaria contributed to this report

Supporters of former Bulgarian President Rumen Radev hold phone lights during the closing rally of his campaign in Sofia, Thursday, April 16, 2026, as Bulgaria heads into an early parliamentary election. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

Former three-time conservative Prime Minister Boyko Borissov poses for selfies with supporters at the closing rally of his campaign, in Samokov, Wednesday, April 15, 2026, as Bulgaria heads into an early parliamentary election. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

Former three-time conservative Prime Minister Boyko Borissov delivers a speech at the closing rally of his campaign, in Samokov, Bulgaria, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

Former Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, center, poses with a supporter at the closing rally of his campaign, in Sofia, Thursday, April 16, 2026, as Bulgaria heads into an early parliamentary election. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has no plans to resign over revelations that his scandal-tainted pick for U.K. ambassador to Washington was appointed despite failing security checks, officials said Friday.

Starmer says he was unaware that the Foreign Office had overruled the recommendation of security officials in early 2025 not to give Peter Mandelson the job. Many considered Mandelson a risky appointment because of his past friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The top Foreign Office civil servant, Olly Robbins, took the fall for the decision and resigned late Thursday. Starmer is due to make a statement to Parliament on the issue on Monday.

That’s unlikely to end the danger to the prime minister over his fateful decision to appoint Mandelson, a trade expert and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, as envoy to the Trump administration. It was a calculated risk that backfired spectacularly, and could bring down the prime minister.

Opposition politicians expressed disbelief that Starmer could have been unaware Mandelson had failed security vetting. Starmer’s office said he only found out this week.

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, said Friday that “the recommendation was to not appoint Peter Mandelson to the role,” and that the Foreign Office ignored it. He said that was “astonishing,” but within the rules.

He said no government minister had been told of the security assessment.

Jones said the checks, carried out by a department known as U.K. Security Vetting, “go through financial, personal, sexual, religious and other types of background information, and that is why it is kept extremely private on a portal that only a few people have access to.”

Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said claims the prime minister didn’t know were “completely preposterous.”

“This story does not stack up. The prime minister is taking us for fools,” she told the BBC. “All roads lead to a resignation.”

Ed Davey, the leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, said Starmer “must go” if he misled Parliament and lied to the British public.

Starmer has repeatedly insisted that “due process” was followed in the appointment, which was announced in December 2024. Mandelson took up the Washington post in February 2025, after undergoing security vetting.

Mandelson’s expertise as a former European Union trade chief was considered a major asset in trying to persuade the Trump administration not to slap heavy tariffs on British goods, and seemed to pay off when the countries struck a trade deal in May 2025.

But documents released by the government in March, after being forced to by Parliament, showed Starmer ignored red flags raised by his staff about the appointment. He was warned that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, exposed the government to “reputational risk.”

Starmer fired Mandelson in September 2025 after evidence emerged that he had lied about the extent of his links to Epstein.

The prime minister has apologized to the British public and to Epstein’s victims for believing what he has termed “Mandelson’s lies.”

Starmer’s premiership faced its biggest crisis in February after the release of millions of pages of Epstein-related documents by the U.S. Department of Justice showed the closeness of Mandelson’s relationship with the financier, even after Epstein’s conviction in 2008 for sexual offenses involving a minor.

Emails between the men suggested Mandelson had passed on sensitive — and potentially market-moving — government information to Epstein in 2009, when he was a member of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government.

British police subsequently launched a criminal probe and searched Mandelson’s houses in London and western England. Mandelson was arrested on Feb. 23 on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

He has been released without bail conditions as the police investigation continues. Mandelson has previously denied wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.

King Charles III’s brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, is also under police investigation over his friendship with Epstein. He, too, has been arrested but not charged.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks as Starmer hosts social media industry leaders to discuss child safety online Thursday, April 16, 2026, in London. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

FILE - This March 28, 2017, photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein. (New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP, File)

FILE - Peter Mandelson, the former U.K. ambassador to the United States, leaves his house in London, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)