Bulgaria’s incoming ruling party will not change the country’s foreign policy, a senior lawmaker said on May 6, seeking to reassure allies after international media compared election winner Rumen Radev with Hungary’s former leader Viktor Orbán.

Petar Vitanov, chairman of the parliamentary group of Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria party, said after consultations with President Iliana Yotova that there would be no “radical, extreme shift” in Sofia’s foreign policy.

“For nine years, Rumen Radev has held very clear positions, and almost all European leaders have moved closer to them,” Vitanov was quoted as saying by BGNES.

The comments come after Progressive Bulgaria secured a parliamentary majority in an April 19 election, allowing Radev to form a single-party government. The vote marked Bulgaria’s eighth general election since 2021, but the first since 1997 to deliver an outright majority, raising hopes of greater political stability after years of coalition turmoil.

Radev’s victory has drawn scrutiny abroad, with some pundits portraying him as a potential disruptor within the European Union. He has argued in the past that there is no military solution to the war in Ukraine, criticised Western arms supplies to Kyiv and cautioned against long-term security commitments.

However, Radev has also consistently said Bulgaria’s EU path is not in question, a position reiterated during and after the campaign.

Vitanov said the clarification was needed again amid heightened political tensions and what he described as attempts in the Balkans to frame Bulgaria’s leadership as destabilising.

There has been some unease in North Macedonia, where officials and commentators have expressed concern over what his victory could mean for already sensitive bilateral ties, particularly in relation to EU accession and historical disputes between the two neighbours.

“At a time of profound global transformation, Bulgaria’s partners need to know that the new government will remain a reliable, predictable and loyal ally,” he said.

Vitanov added that Bulgaria had avoided major strategic foreign policy missteps over the past three decades and had made no claims against the sovereignty of its neighbours, underscoring continuity in its international stance.