PM Shehbaz congratulates Bulgaria’s Radev on ‘historic victory’

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday congratulated Rumen Radev on what he described as a “historic victory” in Bulgaria’s recent parliamentary elections. In a post shared by the PM Shehbaz on X, he said Pakistan “values its cordial and friendly relations” with Bulgaria and expressed hope for closer cooperation with the incoming government. I congratulate H.E. Mr Rumen Radev on his historic victory in the recently held Parliamentary elections in Bulgaria. Pakistan values its cordial and friendly relations with Bulgaria and looks forward to working closely with the newly elected Bulgarian Government to further… — Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 22, 2026 “I congratulate Rumen Radev on his historic victory in the recently held 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 ties in the days ahead”. Rumen Radev won Bulgaria's election by a landslide, official results showed on Monday, sidelining long-dominant political forces and potentially pushing the European Union and NATO member state ‌closer to Moscow. The performance, exceeding opinion poll forecasts, is one of the strongest results for a single party in a generation and may end, for now, the chronic instability that led to eight elections in five years. Read More: Hungarians vote in landmark election closely watched by EU, Russia, US Radev's Progressive Bulgaria party had 44.7% of the vote after 91.7% of ballots were counted, suggesting it could rule alone, but he has not ruled out a coalition with a ​pro-European group or a smaller party. Progressive Bulgaria's tally put it far ahead of the pro-European We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition with ​13.2%, and the long-dominant GERB party, led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, at 13.4%. "This is a victory of ⁠hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear, and finally, if you will, a victory of morality," Radev told a press conference late ​on Sunday.