Bulgaria's presidential election will go to a second round on 1 November after no candidate cleared the threshold on Sunday, Al Jazeera reports, citing exit polls.
President Iliana Iotova took between 35 and 36.5 per cent and will face former caretaker prime minister Andrey Gyurov, who won between 31 and 33.5 per cent. Twenty-seven candidates stood. Turnout was low, at about 22 per cent by early evening according to one polling agency, well short of the majority needed for a first-round win.
Iotova, a left-leaning independent backed by Prime Minister Rumen Radev's party and the Socialists, favours staying aligned with Europe while seeking better relations with Russia. Gyurov, backed by the pro-Western opposition, signed a security agreement with Ukraine while in office. Energy prices, inflation and drone attacks on ships in the Black Sea dominated the campaign.
Source: Al Jazeera
