Iliyana Yotova is the current President of Bulgaria since Rumen Radev stepped down from the post to become a Prime Minister of the country. Now he and his party are backing Yotova in the upcoming presidential elections in the country. On 8th September 2026 Yotova laid down her priorities if she is to become the next full-time President of Bulgaria. A big portion of what she had to say was dedicated to Russia.
Here are some of the key points she made regarding Russia during her speech and how they relate to Kremlin propaganda.
“The war in Ukraine has no military solution! More weapons and billions poured into it bring only more casualties and put Orthodox nations against one another.”
This is in the same line of talking that Putin later uses, when he is claiming he is ready for peace, but he keeps attacking Ukraine and blames the “collective West” for being the aggressor. Yotova paints helping Ukraine as a lost cause and implies it’s actually a bad thing because it leads to “more casualties”. Yotova has never talked about what the consequences would be if the countries supporting Ukraine stop heling them, and what effect this will have on Bulgaria.
“Bulgaria cannot participate in a Coalition of the Willing that is preparing a military presence in Ukraine – we will not allow our country to be dragged into this conflict!”
Here Yotova again uses Putin’s talking point for the “aggressive collective West” that wants to attack Russia. She also spreads fears that Bulgaria will be dragged into the war if she participates in coalitions in support of Ukraine.
“Bulgaria must […] participate in diplomatic channels, including with Russia, which, I am convinced, will soon be opened.”
Yotova turns her back on the Coalition of the Willing while longing for dialogue with Russia. She represent Russia as a peacemaker by claiming that only through a dialog with them peace can be achieved. She completely excludes Ukraine from the equation and refuses to acknowledge how the war actually began.
“I refuse to accept the rewriting of Bulgarian history, the denial of the influence of Russian culture, the banning of the Russian language, the denial of the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation, or the banning of brilliant writers, composers and artists who have taught us all timeless human values!”
In reality, no one is banning any of these things. This is simply yet another Kremlin talking point inserted into Yotova’s speech to portray Russia as the “victim of aggression” with which Bulgarians should sympathise and side.
Yotova is backed to stand for President of Bulgaria by 14 former Communist National Service agents, the Prime Minister Rumen Radev (to who she served as a vice-President for 9 years) and his political party Progressive Bulgaria. She is also backed by numerous artists, sportspeople and journalists.
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