Former Bulgarian president Rumen Radev’s new alliance is leading opinion polls ahead of Bulgaria’s April 19 parliamentary election, turning the country’s latest snap vote into a test of whether anti‑establishment rhetoric can thrive even when it comes from a figure long tied to the political system himself. Speaking to TVP World’s Eastern Express program, Spasimir Domaradzki, a political scientist at the Institute of Central Europe at the University of Warsaw, argued that Bulgaria’s crisis is less about broken institutions than about entrenched interests. “The problem is not with the system. The problem is with the state capture,” he said. Radev, who stepped down from the presidency in January 2026 and then launched the Progressive Bulgaria alliance, has quickly emerged as the dominant figure in the campaign. Reuters and other outlets report that polls put his bloc at around or just above 30%, while survey data from Alpha Research indicate that no party is expected to win a majority, suggesting coalition‑building could again prove difficult. Old crisis, new vehicle As TVP World reported earlier, Bulgaria is once again heading into early elections after months of instability, protests and renewed accusations of corruption. The previous government resigned in December 2025 after weeks of street unrest over tax hikes and a perceived failure to tackle graft, extending a cycle of short‑lived administrations and repeated snap votes that has gripped the country since 2021. Domaradzki said Radev is trying to recast the political battlefield by presenting himself as an opponent of the oligarchic model while also blurring the line between the old status quo and the reformist parties that challenged it. In his telling, that makes the former president look like a fresh alternative. But Domaradzki pushed back on that image, noting that Radev “was president of Bulgaria for almost ten years” and was “always part of these political elites that we associate with the state capture.” Integrity concerns remain The campaign is also unfolding under a cloud of electoral integrity concerns. Bulgarian authorities say they have acted on numerous vote‑buying reports in past elections, while the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has repeatedly flagged such problems and has opened an election observation mission for the April 19 ballot. That scrutiny reflects the sensitivity of a race taking place after repeated disputes over corruption, public trust and the fairness of the electoral process. Even if Radev’s alliance finishes first, current polling suggests Bulgaria may still end up with another fragmented parliament rather than the stable reset many voters want.
