Rumen Radev's tenure as the 5th President of Bulgaria began with his first Inauguration on 22 January 2017 and ended when he officially resigned on 23 January 2026, the second to do so in Bulgaria's post-Communist history after Petar Mladenov. Radev, who served as higher commander of the Bulgarian Air Force and held the rank of major general, won the 2016 Bulgarian presidential election as an independent candidate supported by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). He defeated GERB candidate Tsetska Tsacheva in the second round. During his first term, Radev was often in conflict with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov of GERB.
Radev won a second term in the 2021 Bulgarian general election, with 66% of the vote in the second round. During his second term, Radev presided over the five-year long political crisis in Bulgaria and resigned in January 2026. For the 2026 Bulgarian parliamentary election, the eight election in five years, he formed his own party called Progressive Bulgaria (PB), which achieved a landslide victory and an absolute majority of seats in the National Assembly.
Election In August 2016, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABR), two opposition parties, officially nominated Radev as a candidate for the 2016 Bulgarian presidential election.BSP elected Gen. Radev as a presidential candidate with 99 votes , Bulgarian National Radio, Radio "Sofia", 17 August 2016.BSP officially nominated gen. Rumen Radev for the presidential elections , "Dnevnik", 17 August 2016.ABR officially nominated gen. Rumen Radev for the presidential elections too , BNT, 17 August 2016. In November 2016, ABR withdrew its presidential nomination of Radev,Counterstrike of ABR – it withdrew its support for General Rumen Radev , Nyuz.bg author: Dilyana Panajotova, 24 August 2016. favouring the election of Ivaylo Kalfin. In the first round of the election on 6 November, Radev came first with 25.44% of the vote. He faced GERB candidate Tsetska Tsacheva in the runoff on 13 November. He defeated her, winning 59.37% of the popular vote.
On 1 February 2021, Radev officially announced that he and Iliana Iotova would run for a second term. The presidential election took place on 14 November 2021. Prior to the election, several parties declared their support for Radev, including There is Such a People (ITN), We Continue the Change (PP), and BSP for Bulgaria (BSPzB). Radev and Iotova received 1,322,385 votes in the first round, 49.42% of the vote. This led to a second round run-off with the GERB-supported candidate Anastas Gerdzhikov, who got 22.83% of the vote in the first round. Radev won in the run-off, with 66.7% of the vote, starting his second term as president.
Rivalry with Prime Minister Borisov
Since his election into office, Radev frequently criticised Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov, whom Radev viewed as permitting corruption through a "reckless leadership style", as well as attempting to strangle his political opposition. This led Radev to frequently veto legislative proposals submitted by GERB (Borisov's party) to in the Bulgarian parliament (the National Assembly), issuing a total of 19 vetoes in his first two and a half years of his presidency. Borisov accused Radev of "sabotaging the government's work", as well as supporting the opposition Socialist Party during campaign periods. In his 2019 New Year's address, Radev stated that he believed that the third Borisov government had failed in addressing corruption, placed the country in economic stagnation with price increases and low wages, undermined the fairness of elections, and retreated from law and justice.
F-16 deal veto
In June 2019, Radev vetoed a major government contract for the acquisition of 16 F-16 Fighting Falcons Block 70 from the U.S. at a cost of around 2bln lev. Radev strongly criticised the deal, accusing the government of authoritarianism and stated that he believed it had agreed to downgrades in the jets' avionics and armament, in order to get a lower purchasing price, which he also deemed too high for what they are worth. The pro-government majority in Bulgaria's national assembly overruled Radev's veto and the deal was nonetheless concluded.
Rejection of Geshev as General Prosecutor In November 2019, Radev refused to sign the decree appointing Ivan Geshev to the post of Chief Public Prosecutor of Bulgaria, following the latter's election to the post by Bulgaria's Supreme Judicial Council. He did not officially declare the motive for his refusal in written form, instead deciding to explain it personally to the media. Radev remarked that Geshev was the only candidate for the post and opined that the single-candidate nature of his election was supported by Borisov's government. He expressed the opinion that Geshev's candidacy had been supported only by government-controlled institutions and not by civic ones, which in his eyes led to a lack of public confidence in the institution. The Supreme Judicial Council refused to revise their decision and voted in favour of Geshev a second time, which triggered a constitutional requirement for Radev as president to sign the decree. Stating that he would refuse to violate the constitution, Radev did so following a meeting with Geshev, but called for changes to Bulgaria's constitution.
Wiretapping scandal The relations between Radev and Geshev quickly soured, as the latter released what he stated was a wiretap of Radev discussing his involvement in alleged criminal activities. Geshev further appealed to the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria to have Radev's legal immunity revoked. The general prosecutor's actions backfired in the eyes of the Bulgarian people and were widely viewed as an attempt to suppress and censor the president – either as 'revenge' for the president's initial veto of Geshev's appointment, or as a preparation for a move to remove Radev from his post as president. In response, Radev accused Geshev's prosecution of being controlled by Borisov's government, whom he accused of using both the prosecution, the secret services and the National Police Service to crush dissent.
Borisov swore that he had not ordered Radev to be wiretapped. In turn, Radev doubled down, noting that the agency responsible for wiretapping in Bulgaria, the State Agency for National Security, was directly responsible to the government and the prime minister. He further questioned the motives as to why it appeared to him as though the general prosecutor "saw crime and corruption in everything, except for the council of ministers".
Declaration of no confidence On 4 February 2020, Radev announced that he had formally withdrawn confidence in Borisov's government. He pointed out that there was, in his opinion, a strong crisis in the governance of all levels, a lack of will to reform and fight corruption, and a state of morally-questionable lawlessness in the country. Borisov accused Radev of trying to "take over" the country and stated that his government did not depend on Radev for confidence, adding that he believed the presidency to be a useless post, holding only 'symbolic councils', which he asserted never decided anything.
COVID-19 pandemic At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Radev and Borisov's government initially appeared to thaw their relations for the sake of national unity. Shortly after, however, Radev partially vetoed a law responding to the pandemic. In particular, he objected to a paragraph criminalizing the spread of "fake news" with a fine of up to 10,000 leva. In response, Borisov accused Radev of populism and political opportunism, but nonetheless ordered his parliamentary group to accept the veto. The amended bill still featured a paragraph obligating telecom providers to track and store user data for up to six months and provide it upon request of the authorities, with the stated goal of tracking the movements of quarantined citizens.
Over the coming days, Radev repeatedly criticised the government for its handling of the state of emergency, accusing it of quote mining the World Health Organization for political gain. In reply, Borisov accused Radev of sabotaging the state of emergency, calling him a "dirty old hag of a mother-in-law, the nasty kind" and showing surprise at his willingness to make "inflammatory statements on the day ... his own father had passed away". Radev responded that the conflict was "in Borisov's head", and that he had never called for the state of emergency to be lifted.
In October 2020, Radev attended an investment forum in Estonia, but his visit was cut short after it was revealed that he had been exposed to a COVID-19 positive individual while in Bulgaria. It was alleged that Radev had known this prior to travelling, but the president accused his political opponents of orchestrating a campaign to tarnish his image, displaying a negative PCR test he had obtained prior to the trip.
Borisov photo scandal and drone controversy In June 2020, photographs emerged that seemed to show Borisov lying half-naked on a bed, next to a nightstand featuring a handgun and stacks of euro banknotes. Borisov confirmed that the room in the photos was his, but said the gun and money were not, stating that the images could have been manipulated. Borisov accused Radev of flying a drone into his home to take the pictures. He also accused former Ombudswoman Maya Manolova, TV star Slavi Trifonov, and his own former second-in-command Tsvetan Tsvetanov (who had just left and condemned the ruling party) of involvement in a kompromat plot to take photos of him while he was sleeping. Radev condemned the leaks, calling it an "insane" invasion of the prime minister's privacy. He added that he owns a drone, but that the accusation that he used it to take the pictures was part of Borisov's "fantasy and paranoia".
Other issues Arrest of advisors and anti-government protesters
In July 2020, agents of Chief Prosecutor Geshev entered the presidency and detained several of the president's advisors. This, alongside the photo scandal and an incident on a Burgas beach significantly impacted the credibility of Borisov's government, leading to the beginning of large-scale anti-government protests, which Radev openly supported. Radev made a televised address to the nation, in which he demanded that both the entire government and the chief prosecutor resign, openly calling them "mafia".
Bulgarian political crisis April 2021 elections and Yanev government In January 2021, Radev signed the election law, scheduling the next regular Bulgarian elections for April. The elections came after a period of public protests against the Borisov government, and during social restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the elections, Radev decided to not postpone the convocation of the Bulgarian National Assembly, despite the fragmented nature of the newly elected parliament. He also dismissed the possibility of convening a Grand National Assembly, as proposed by Borisov. In his address to the opening session of the National Assembly, Radev expressed hope for a regular cabinet, highlighting the many issues facing Bulgaria: including poverty, the COVID-pandemic and corruption; however, he also called on parties to avoid forming "unprincipled" coalitions. On 19 April, Radev held consultations with all the parliamentary groups. During the consultations, Radev clashed with representatives from GERB, who accused him of expediting the procedure of consultations in order to impede government formations. He, in turn, denied that the Presidential institution would serve as an "architect" of future governments.