Bulgaria's Iotova wins presidential runoff vote amid Black Sea security fears

Bulgaria waited and watched, with live results beamed onto the façade of the National Television Building. It's a gas for a taxi phone. Iliana Jotova led from the start. Thank you very much. Bye-bye. By night's end, it was official. The incumbent president had won the runoff to become Bulgaria's first elected female president. We spoke with Bulgarian... We spoke to Bulgarian citizens about the issues that affect their everyday lives. We talked about incomes and peace and about the challenges we face. Today, they understood our message. Standing beside her, Prime Minister Rumen Radev, whom she served as Vice President for nearly a decade. For us, these elections confirm that the course we have set is the right one and encourages us to pursue determined and vigorous reforms. Backed by Radev's Progressive Bulgaria and the Socialist Party, Jotova is known to favour dialogue with Moscow and oppose military aid to Ukraine. She was pitted against Andrey Gurov, a banker and former caretaker prime minister backed by the pro-Western opposition. The presidency post is largely ceremonial, but with Radov's party controlling parliament, the presidency and parliament now align. Usually they act as a check on each other. The vote came as security fears grow in the Black Sea. Several commercial vessels were hit by drones off Bulgaria's coast in October, in what's believed to be a spillover from Russia's war in Ukraine. Radev says the attacks appear to serve Russian interests, but insists there's no evidence directly linking Moscow to the