Bulgaria's President Ilijana Jotowa has been clearly confirmed in the runoff for the country's highest state office, according to projections from the Bulgarian polling institutes Mjara and Alpha Research. The former socialist MEP was credited with up to 58 percent of the vote.
Jotowa was supported in the race, among others, by the sole governing centre-left party Progressives Bulgaria (PB). Her challenger Andrej Gjurow, running as the candidate of the pro-Western liberal-conservative opposition camp, was projected at up to 39 percent.
Should the projections be confirmed by official results, the EU and NATO member state will continue to have a president with roots in the political left. Jotowa was a spokesperson and a member of the party leadership of the Bulgarian Socialists (BSP), the successor party to the communist state party.
Before casting her ballot, Jotowa gave a preview of her future EU policy, saying she had voted for Bulgaria to be a strong state within a strong Europe, while also stressing that the country should have its own foreign policy and backbone when it must defend the national interest.
Sources: Handelsblatt.