Bulgaria's Acting President Iliana Iotova Wins Runoff to Become Nation's First Elected Female Head of State

Exam-focused facts from the 3 November 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

Iliana Iotova, Bulgaria's acting President and former vice president, won the presidential runoff on November 1, 2026, becoming the country's first elected female head of state.
With 99.95% of precinct protocols processed, Iotova and her running mate Valchev secured 57.58% of the vote (about 1.1 million ballots), while opponents Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev received 39.47% (around 749,500 votes), and about 2.95% chose the 'I support no one' option.
In the first round on October 25, 2026, Iotova and Valchev led with 34.6% ahead of Gyurov and Kandev with 32%, forcing a runoff as no candidate secured a majority.
Iotova became acting president in January 2026 after Rumen Radev resigned to enter the parliamentary race, which he won; Radev supported her presidential bid.