Iliana Yotova won Bulgaria's presidential runoff on Sunday with 57.6 percent of the vote, becoming the country's first elected female president.

The Central Election Commission reported that Yotova, 62, defeated former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, who received 39.5 percent. Yotova won 1,093,852 votes. Turnout was just under 30 percent, the lowest for any presidential runoff, while the first round drew only 22.5 percent, a record low.

Yotova has served as acting president since January, when Rumen Radev resigned to become prime minister. Her five-year term begins on January 22, 2027.

Yotova ran as an independent but was endorsed by Radev's Progressive Bulgaria party, which holds 131 of 240 parliamentary seats. She served as Radev's vice president for nine years. On election night she thanked Radev, saying, "Dear Mr. Radev, we could not have succeeded without you!"

Asked whether ruling parties would shape her decisions, she said that in nearly 30 years in politics no one had yet come along who could tell her what to do. She said voters had placed their trust in "a policy of dialogue, rather than one of division." Observers note that the win keeps the presidency in the hands of the governing majority, which could prevent effective checks and balances on policy decisions, they say.

A large share of Yotova's new votes in the runoff came from pro-Russian Revival supporters, according to Alpha Research data. Yotova opposes sending weapons to Ukraine and supports resuming dialogue with Moscow. In a podcast interview released on October 30, she said Russia is "absolutely not" an enemy, adding that Russia is "part of our history."

She has called for a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine and proposed a Black Sea security forum of six littoral states: Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Ukraine and Russia. The election took place after drone attacks on merchant ships off Bulgaria's coast killed at least 24 sailors in the past month. Former prime ministers Boyko Borissov, Nikolai Denkov and Ivan Kostov accused Yotova and the government of underestimating the Russian threat.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Yotova and looked forward to cooperation on security and defense, writing "For a strong Bulgaria in a strong Europe." North Macedonian President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova also congratulated her, expressing confidence that Bulgaria would play a constructive role in the region. Gyurov conceded defeat, saying, "this is how the Bulgarian citizens have voted."

Yotova began her career as a television journalist in the 1990s. She later served in Bulgaria's parliament and the European Parliament as a member of the Socialist party. She was elected vice president alongside Radev in 2016 and 2021. She selected Kiril Valchev, a 53-year-old lawyer and journalist who has headed the Bulgarian News Agency since 2021, as her running mate.