Rumen Radev announces that he is resigning as president of Bulgaria, in Sofia, on January 19, 2026. PHOTO: Valentina Petrova / AP / Profimedia
Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev will resign, he announced in a speech on Monday, fueling speculation that he will form his own political party to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections after the previous government resigned last month.
Radev, who was to hold the largely ceremonial post until January 2027, said he would submit his resignation to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday. If approved, he will be replaced by Vice President Iliana Iotova until the presidential elections in November.
He expressed his conviction that Vice President Iotova will be a worthy interim president.
Radev, who has expressed skepticism about Bulgaria's recent decision to join the euro zone and longtime Kremlin-friendly views on the war in Ukraine, was elected president in 2016 and again in 2021.
But his political ambitions have expanded and he has long promoted the possibility of forming his own party.
His decision to resign, widely anticipated in the Balkan country, comes amid a political crisis that is pushing Bulgaria into its eighth round of parliamentary elections in four years. Following extreme fragmentation within the Sofia Parliament, a number of election winners have failed to create majorities or coagulate sustainable governing coalitions.
The last coalition lasted nearly a year, until protests against the new budget and widespread corruption forced the government to resign in December 2025. Legislative elections are expected to be held in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Radev, a former air force commander, has been forced to repeatedly appoint interim governments, which has boosted his visibility and political ambitions, Western analysts and diplomats say.
