Bulgaria: President Roumen Radev in search of a second term
Audio 03:27
Roumen Radev.
Reuters / Stoyan Nenov
By: Anastasia Becchio
5 mins
For the third time in seven months, Bulgarian voters go to the polls this Sunday for legislative and presidential elections.
Candidate for his succession, Roumen Radev appears favorite even if his popularity rate has fallen against the backdrop of an unprecedented political and health crisis.
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At the controls of his MiG-29, General Roumen Raved performs a series of perilous acrobatics in the sky over Sofia during an aerial demonstration, to the applause of the public.
This was in 2014, two years before he assumed the presidency of Bulgaria.
Video of his aerial exploits went viral during the election campaign.
Five years later, in the running for a new term, the former fighter pilot continues to cultivate an image of a strong man.
“
He is a general, a virile man, categorical in his opinions, a moderate nationalist.
He has forged an image of a leader
”, underlines Anna Krasteva, professor of political sociology at the New Bulgarian University.
Operation seduction
At 58, the former soldier "
wants to show that he is in perfect physical shape unlike other candidates,
" continues the expert.
Last month, during a visit to a sports complex in Sofia, the head of state, in a white shirt, did 50 push-ups in front of the cameras.
A novice in politics before the 2016 presidential campaign, he proved to be a tactician and won the sympathies of an electorate that extended far beyond the Socialist Party.
For this ballot, he is running as an independent candidate, but he is casting a wide net.
“
Formally, he still has the support of the Socialist Party, but he is more ambitious,
” explains political scientist Antony Galabov.
The outgoing head of state, whose powers have been increased thanks to the political crisis which dragged on, intends to build up support in the next Parliament.
He is also supported by the party of singer and comedian Slavi Trifonov, There is such a people, but also by a new coalition, which he more or less inspired, We are pursuing change.
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See also: Bulgaria: voters return to the polls, in the midst of the outbreak of Covid-19
This new party was created by Kiril Petkov and Assen Vassilev, two entrepreneurs in their forties who had graduated from Harvard with all political experience a few months in an interim government, where they held the portfolios of Economy and Finance before moving to resign to embark on the legislative campaign.
Like these two ex-ministers, Roumen Radev still intends to seduce voters who are against the former head of the conservative government Boïko Borissov, his sworn enemy.
Radev seek to reassure his people
In the summer of 2020, the Bulgarian president gave his support to the demonstrators who took to the streets en masse to protest against the corruption of the government dominated by the Gerb party. It was also the searches within the presidency, perceived as an abuse of power, that sparked the wind of protest.
If Boïko Borissov remains his main rival, he does not hesitate, at times, to adopt the same postures, recalls Anna Krasteva.
“
On the question of the Republic of North Macedonia, for example, he did not seek to change the restrictive policy of Gerb, which at first supported the enlargement of all the Western Balkans, then ended up blocking the accession of North Macedonia.
Roumen Radev has also settled in this niche which corresponds to public opinion, as it was largely forged by the coalition government of Gerb with the nationalists,
”notes the sociologist.
A pro-Russian president
A graduate of the prestigious Air Warfare University at Maxwell Military Base in the United States, Roumen Radev is fluent in English.
He is also fluent in German and Russian.
And even if the former Bulgarian air force commander does not intend to question the Euro-Atlantic orientation of his country, he pleads for good relations with Russia, seeing himself described as a "red general" by his detractors.
Asked regularly about its proximity to Moscow, Roumen Radev explains, as during a meeting with students at the University of Oxford in 2018 that “
Bulgaria is a member of NATO and a member of the European Union.
But the country must also defend its national interests (...) very varied interests, not only security, but also economic and energy
".
In a country largely dependent on Russian gas, Roumen Radev has often been criticized for his perceived pro-Russian positions, which has earned him some isolation among his European counterparts, according to Antony Galabov. During the previous campaign, he had indeed called for the lifting of international sanctions against Moscow. While acknowledging that the annexation of Crimea constituted a violation of international law, he also considered that it was a "
reality which should be better taken into account
".
This Sunday's poll takes place at a time when Bulgaria is overwhelmed by the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Overtaken, the country which deplores the highest number of deaths in the world in relation to the population after Peru, appealed this week for European aid.
However, "
for most Bulgarian citizens, it is, in fact, Rouman Radev who is in charge
", in the absence of a stable government.
But if his popularity rate has eroded a little, in this context of political and health crisis, the outgoing head of state is widely preferred.
The latest polls gave him a 20-point lead.
But he should not escape a second round.
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