Eurosceptic Radev poised for majority in Bulgarian election – Europe live

Bulgarian ex-president Rumen Radev – an EU critic who has called for renewing ties with Russia – on Sunday hailed a “victory of hope” after his formation topped the eighth parliamentary elections in five years.

Rumen Radev, former Bulgarian president and leader of Progressive Bulgaria coalition, speaks to the media after the first exit polls at the parliamentary election in Sofia, Bulgaria. Photograph: Spasiyana Sergieva/Reuters

Projections from polling agencies put his Progressive Bulgaria (PB) grouping at 44%, which would give him an absolute majority of at least 129 seats in the 240-seat parliament.

This morning’s partial results – after over 80% votes counted – suggest the polls were broadly correct, raising hopes for a stable government in Bulgaria.

But there was little of the international enthusiasm that we saw a week ago in Hungary, with no European leaders taking to social media to congratulate the winner just yet.

Radev, Bulgaria’s president between 2017 and 2026, is a Eurosceptic, who regularly opposed further military support for Ukraine amid continuing Russian aggression, prompting some concerns that he could replace Hungary’s Viktor Orbán as tricky partner in the European Council.

But his focus is likely to be on domestic reforms and fight against corruption, as his foreign policy remains to be properly defined. On Sunday he declared that Bulgaria “would make efforts to continue on its European path” after joining the eurozone earlier this year.

I will bring you more on this during the day.

Separately, France’s Emmanuel Macron is expected in Poland where he will meet with the prime minister, Donald Tusk, and the Nobel prize winning former leader of the Solidarity movement,