Presidential race in Bulgaria heads to runoff due to record low turnout

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- The presidential election in Bulgaria on Sunday ended inconclusively, with the next head of state to be picked in a runoff, according to election officials.A record low turnout, attributed by observers to a general mistrust in politicians resulting in voter apathy, will pit two contrasting political visions against each other in a highly polarized contest on Nov. 1. In a surprisingly strong performance, the candidate of the pro-Western reformist opposition, Andrey Gyurov, will face the incumbent leftist president, Iliana Yotova, setting clear lines of division regarding the country’s future relationships with other nations.Bulgarians voted against a backdrop of growing economic hardship and drone attacks on Black Sea shipping. The vote is the first major test for the Moscow-friendly Progressive Bulgaria party of Prime Minister Rumen Radev after its triumph in parliamentary elections in April.Despite a record number of candidates, the race had been expected to be decided in a runoff between incumbent Yotova, backed by Radev’s party, and former caretaker Prime Minister Gyurov, who is backed by pro-Western opposition parties.The campaign focused heavily on Russia’s ...