Bulgaria’s former President Rumen Radev, an EU critic who has called for renewing ties with Russia, hailed a “victory of hope” on Monday after his Progressive Bulgaria (PB) coalition topped the polls in Sunday’s election, the eighth such parliamentary vote in five years.

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Many voters see Radev, a former fighter pilot, as the only person capable of giving the corruption-plagued Balkan nation a fresh start.

The 62-year-old has presented himself as a defender of the lowest earners in the EU’s poorest country as he walks a tightrope on European issues.

He has hailed the benefits Bulgaria has reaped from EU membership while calling for dialogue with Russia as its full-scale invasion of Ukraine rages into a fifth year.

“Bulgaria is in a unique position, because we are the only EU member state that is both Slavic and Eastern Orthodox,” Radev, who was president for nine years, said recently.

“That should be used … and we really can be a very important link in this whole process, which I am sure will sooner or later begin, to restore relations with Russia,” he added.

Last year, as president, he called for a referendum on Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone, saying the Balkan country was not ready to join. Yet his proposal failed and Sofia adopted the joint European currency on 1 January.

Radev has also slammed military aid to Ukraine and the EU, trying to turn its back on Russian oil and gas.

“Geographically, economically, in terms of resources and as a market, we need to rebuild those relations,” he insisted.

Raised fist

For sociologist Parvan Simeonov, Radev is hard to figure out, like many leaders in the region who, “depending on the visiting delegation, choose whether or not to fly the Ukrainian flag in the background.”

Radev insists he embodies distrust of the country’s elites and oligarchs, denying any links to them.

A graduate of the elite US Air War College, he later served as the head of the Bulgarian Air Force.

He entered politics in 2016 and later won a presidential election to the largely ceremonial post.

Born in 1963 in the southeastern town of Dimitrovgrad, the austere and reserved man lacks the polish of seasoned communicators.

When he vows to regulate public tenders through AI or to reform the much‑criticised judicial system, he sometimes gives the impression of reciting a memorised text.

Yet he won over some liberal pro-European voters when he openly supported protesters at anti-corruption rallies in 2020.

Radev walked out of the presidential palace with his fist raised to join the protests that ultimately toppled conservative Prime Minister Boyko Borissov a year later.

Radev was re‑elected head of state in 2021 with two-thirds of the vote.

Modest lifestyle

Late last year, Radev once again backed anti-corruption protesters, and when the last government resigned in December, he stepped down as president to run in the election.

Radev’s left-wing conservative movement, Progressive Bulgaria, brings together a plethora of figures including military officers, former socialist officials and athletes, and the union leader of the country’s main arms manufacturer, which has boomed from supplying Ukraine’s army.

Radev is campaigning to combat social inequalities and promote budgetary discipline without calling for radical change, said Simeonov.

His promises of a return to stability appeal to voters tired of facing election after election.

Married with two children and intensely patriotic, Radev also wooed voters with a modest lifestyle and his defence of what he calls family values.

A campaign video shot in a village shop that went viral showed Radev soothing the grocer, upset over rising prices and Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone.

Political instability

Sunday’s election follows five years of near-permanent crisis in which no government has survived a full term.

Instead, the country has cycled through caretaker administrations, fragile coalitions and short-lived alliances that have often collapsed amid scandal.

Public trust has all but evaporated. Voter turnout, once a barometer of democratic engagement, has entered a state of chronic decline.

This prolonged instability has unfolded against a backdrop of deepening internal divisions and mounting external pressure.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has exposed a stark fault line running through both society and the political class, one that continues to define the national conversation.

And yet, paradoxically, Bulgaria has, in this same period, taken major steps forward in its European integration — joining Schengen and adopting the euro — often without a functioning government or even a passed state budget.

Meanwhile, delays in reforms have slowed access to EU recovery funds, raising the risk of losing billions.

More than 60% of the votes had been counted by Monday morning, according to the Central Electoral Commission, putting Radev’s PB in the lead with around 45%, an absolute majority of at least 132 seats in the 240-seat parliament.

The outcome of the election is set to not only shape Bulgaria’s domestic trajectory but will also be closely watched across the EU, as the bloc fears further instability in any of its member states.

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices rose in early trading Sunday as a standoff between Iran and the U.S. prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is crucial to global energy supplies.

The price of U.S. crude oil increased 6.4% to $87.90 per barrel an hour after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 5.8% to $95.64 per barrel.

The market reaction followed more than two days of lifted hopes and dashed expectations involving the strait. Crude prices plunged more than 9% Friday after Iran said it would fully reopen the strait, which it effectively controls, to commercial traffic.

Tehran reversed that decision and fired on several vessels Saturday after President Donald Trump said a U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports would remain in effect. On Sunday, Trump said the U.S. attacked and forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that allegedly tried to get around the blockade. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond.

Sunday’s higher prices wiped out much of the declines seen Friday, signaling renewed doubts about how soon ships will again transport the vast amounts oil the world gets from the Middle East.

The US-Israeli war against Iran, now in its eighth week, has created one of the worst global energy crises in decades. Countries in Asia and Europe that import much of their oil from the Gulf have felt the most impact of halted supplies and production cuts, although rapidly rising gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices are affecting businesses and consumers worldwide.

Asked when he thought U.S. motorists would again see gas cost less than $3 a gallon on average, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said prices at the pump might not go down that much until next year.

“But prices have likely peaked, and they’ll start going down,” Wright told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

The price of crude oil — the main ingredient in gasoline — has fluctated dramatically since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and as Iran retaliated with airstrikes on other Gulf states. Crude traded at roughly $70 a barrel before the conflict, spiked to more than $119 at times, and previously closed Friday at $82.59 for U.S. oil and $90.38 for Brent.

Industry analysts have repeatedly warned that the longer the strait is closed, the worse prices could get.

A fragile, two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, while escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz puts the fate of new talks to end the war into question.

Even if a lasting deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz emerges, analysts say it could take months for oil shipments to return to normal levels and for fuel prices to go down. Backed-up tanker traffic, shipowners concerned about another sudden escalation, and energy infrastructure damaged during the war are factors that could impede production and shipment volumes from returning to pre-war levels.

A gallon of regular gas cost an average of nearly $4.05 a gallon in the U.S. on Sunday, according to motor club federation AAA. That’s about 8 cents lower than a week ago, but far higher than $2.98 before the war.

Hundreds of commercial tankers are stranded on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz after Iran shut the critical chokepoint on April 18, halting traffic and leaving crews trapped amid reports of gunfire and “traumatic experiences” on board.

The Strait of Hormuz is considered an international waterway under international law, through which ships have the right of transit passage, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, making it a critical chokepoint for global energy markets, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Iranian gunboats opened fire on a tanker the same day, while a projectile struck a container vessel, damaging cargo.

STARMER AND MACRON ACCUSED OF ‘PLAYING AT BEING RELEVANT’ WITH STRAIT OF HORMUZ PLAN

Audio released by maritime monitoring group TankerTrackers appears to capture the moment a vessel and its crew came under fire while approaching the strait, including a distress call from a crew member.

“Sepah Navy! Motor tanker Sanmar Herald! You gave me clearance to go… you are firing now. Let me turn back!” the crew member can be heard saying in the recording, according to TankerTrackers.

Iranian state media confirmed that shots were fired near vessels to force them to turn back, while the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India said the foreign secretary was deeply concerned.

Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping line, told Fox News Digital that it had activated a crisis team as its crews remain stuck on board vessels in the region.

“We have been working from Friday afternoon until today with the entire crisis team to bring the vessels out — in vain, unfortunately,” said Nils Haupt, senior director of group communications at Hapag-Lloyd AG.

“These events can easily lead to traumatic experiences. There is also a significant risk from sea mines, which has made insuring vessels for passage through the Strait nearly impossible.”

LISA DAFTARI: HORMUZ WHIPLASH PROVES TEHRAN CAN’T HONOR ANY DEAL IT SIGNS

“The crews are well, but they are becoming increasingly impatient and frustrated. It is very unfortunate that we could not leave today,” he added. “Many ships are still stuck in the Persian Gulf.”

“Our six ships are anchored near the port of Dubai, and all crews hope for an improvement in the situation,” Haupt said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on April 18 that the strait would remain closed until the U.S. lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, warning ships not to move from anchorage or risk being treated as “enemy” collaborators.

Iran has previously argued that restrictions on its oil exports and shipping amount to “economic warfare,” framing actions in the Strait of Hormuz as a response to foreign pressure on its economy, according to statements from Iranian officials and state media in past incidents.

“Approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and any violating vessel will be targeted,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

TRUMP ORDERS A BLOCKADE IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS TENSIONS WITH IRAN SOAR

The United States imposed the blockade on Iranian ports to pressure Tehran to reopen the strait, with U.S. Central Command saying the measures are being enforced “impartially against all vessels.”

Hapag-Lloyd said its vessels have been stuck for weeks following the initial closure after the outbreak of war with Iran on Feb. 28.

“For us, it is critical that our vessels can pass through the strait soon,” Haupt said.

“We offer all crew members unlimited data so they can video call loved ones and access entertainment. Crews are strong, but after weeks on board there is growing monotony and frustration.”

“One crew experienced a fire on board from bomb fragments. Others have seen missiles or drones near their vessels,” he added.

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“They are resilient, but each additional day makes the situation more difficult, more monotonous, and more stressful.”

President Donald Trump said Iran had agreed not to close the strait again but after the closure, Trump called the situation “blackmail” and said the U.S. would not back down.