PM Shehbaz congratulates Bulgaria’s Radev on ‘historic victory’

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday congratulated Rumen Radev on what he described as a “historic victory” in Bulgaria’s recent parliamentary elections.

In a message shared by Prime Minister Shehbaz the X, he said Pakistan “appreciates its cordial and friendly relations” with Bulgaria and expressed hope for closer cooperation with the incoming government.

“I congratulate Rumen Radev on his historic victory in the recently held parliamentary elections in Bulgaria,” the Prime Minister said.

He added that Pakistan looks forward to “working closely with the newly elected Bulgarian government to further strengthen our bilateral ties in the coming days”.

Romanian Radev won Bulgaria’s election by a landslide, official results showed on Monday, sidelining long-dominant political forces and potentially pushing the EU and NATO member state closer to Moscow.

The performance, which exceeded poll forecasts, is one of the strongest showings by a single party in a generation and could temporarily end the chronic instability that led to eight elections in five years.

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Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria party had 44.7% of the vote after 91.7% of ballots were counted, suggesting it could govern alone, but he has not ruled out a coalition with a pro-European group or a smaller party.

Progressive Bulgaria’s figures put it well ahead of the pro-European We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition with 13.2%, and the long-dominant GERB party, led by former prime minister Boyko Borissov, with 13.4%.

“This is the victory of hope over mistrust, the victory of freedom over fear, and finally, if you like, the victory of morality,” Radev said at a press conference late Sunday.