PM Chehbaz congratulates Radev on his ‘historic victory’

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

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

“I congratulate Rumen Radev on his historic victory in the recent 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 relations in the days to come.”

Rumen Radev won Bulgaria’s elections by a large majority, according to official results released Monday, sidelining long-dominant political forces and potentially pushing the European Union and NATO member states closer to Moscow.

The performance, beating opinion poll forecasts, is one of the strongest results for a single party in a generation and could end, for now, the chronic instability that has led to eight elections in five years.

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Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria party received 44.7% of the vote after 91.7% of ballots were counted, suggesting he could govern alone, but he is not ruling out a coalition with a pro-EU group or smaller party.

Progressive Bulgaria’s results put it far ahead of the pro-European coalition We Pursue Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) with 13.2%, and the long-dominant GERB party, led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, with 13.4%.

“It is a victory of hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear and finally, if you like, a victory of morality,” Radev said at a news conference Sunday evening.