Key facts
- Exit polls showed Iliana Iotova winning Bulgaria's presidential run-off on Sunday, November 1, 2026.
- Three exit polls put Iotova between 50.7% and 52.5% and Andrey Gyurov between 43.4% and 44%.
- Pollster Myara put Iotova at 51% and Gyurov at 44.7%.
- Iotova, 62, favours dialogue with Moscow; Gyurov, 50, said Russia must stop its aggression.
- Several vessels were struck in the Black Sea in October, leaving 21 people missing.
Iliana Iotova won Bulgaria's presidential run-off, exit polls showed, with the vote held on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The largely ceremonial post pitted Iotova, who was serving as acting president after taking over from Rumen Radev in January, against Andrey Gyurov, a banker and former caretaker prime minister.
Exit polls put Iotova between 50.7% and 52.5% and Gyurov between 43.4% and 44%, according to three polls cited. Pollster Myara separately put Iotova at 51% and Gyurov at 44.7%.
In the first round a week before, Iotova took 35% and Gyurov 32%, a much narrower gap than the 20-point lead opinion polls had predicted for Iotova. Turnout in that round was 23%, and election officials expected higher participation in the run-off.
Iotova, 62, has argued that peace in Ukraine can be achieved only through negotiations while supporting Bulgaria's EU and NATO membership. Gyurov, 50, said in a pre-run-off debate that Russia must stop its aggression. Voting abroad ran at polling stations in 60 countries, starting in Auckland.
Iotova's camp has presented her as a pair of safe hands, and Radev has argued that a ceasefire and peace talks offer the best chance of preventing further attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea, where several vessels were struck in October, leaving 21 people missing.