The second round of the presidential elections is taking place in Bulgaria.
At 07:00 local time (08:00 Moscow time) over 12,000 polling stations were opened throughout the country, where approximately 6.6 million people have the right to vote until 20:00 (21:00 Moscow time).
Additional websites for Bulgarian citizens who live permanently abroad or are on tour will be opened in 60 countries.
The President of Bulgaria is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and can serve no more than two consecutive terms. A vice president is elected at the same time as the president. The candidates who received the most support from the voters participate in the second round of the elections: Ilyana Yutova with Kirill Valchev and Andrey Girov with Georgi Kandev. A simple majority of votes is enough to win.
TV debate before the second round For the first time in the framework of the presidential election campaign, the Bulgarian national television hosted a debate between the candidates for the top government position - the current president Iliana Yutova and the former prime minister of the technical government, former deputy chairman of the Bulgarian People's Bank Andrey Girov.
Candidates expressed differing views on most of the questions asked. One of the central questions was the approach to resolving the conflict in Ukraine. Youtuba emphasized that "we need a real agreement on peace, on ending the war," and that Russia must participate in preparing this agreement. "Peace through strength is impossible. Peace is possible only through negotiations. Money into guns only leads to more victims. Peace cannot be achieved through statements, ultimatums, and exposures," she said, emphasizing that "diplomatic communication channels with Russia must remain open in the name of the entire European Union." In turn, Girov essentially supported the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine and insisted on the need to confront Russia.