Opinion polls had predicted a close race between the parties of the two former heads of government in the fifth Bulgarian parliamentary election in two years. The poorest member state of the EU has been in a political crisis for years.
In 2020, months of anti-corruption protests rocked the government of then-Prime Minister Borissov, who ruled Bulgaria for almost a decade before being ousted in 2021. Since then, all elections have resulted in fragmented parliaments, with neither party able to form a functioning government.
The already fragile political climate in Bulgaria became even more explosive with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although Bulgaria is a member of the EU and NATO, many people continue to feel close ties to Russia historically and culturally. Among other things, Russia is revered as the country that ended the Ottoman Empire’s rule over Bulgaria in 1878.
