President of Bulgaria
Bulgarian president
The president of the Republic of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Президент на Република България, romanized: Prezident na Republika Balgariya) is the head of state of Bulgaria and the commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The official residence of the president is the Boyana Residence in Sofia.
The president's primary function is to serve as the arbitrator of disputes between Bulgaria's different institutions. They are not the head of government or part of the nation's executive power; however, when the National Assembly fails to elect a prime minister, the president appoints an interim government. As of 2026, this happened on 12 occasions: Zhelyu Zhelev in 1994–1995; Petar Stoyanov in 1997; Rosen Plevneliev in 2013 and 2014; Rumen Radev in 2017, 2021, 2022, and 2024; and Iliana Iotova in 2026.
The president is elected for a five-year term and is restricted to two terms, even if they are non-consecutive. After an individual has served two terms as president, that individual would forever be barred from being elected to the presidency again under Bulgaria's Constitution. The president addresses the nation on national television annually on New Year's Eve.
Election
Eligibility for election
For a Bulgarian citizen to be able to run for the office of President of Bulgaria, they must fulfil the following conditions:
Must be a Bulgarian citizen by birth
Must be at least 40 years old
Must have lived in Bulgaria for the five years prior to the candidacy
Must fulfil all conditions that would be required for election as a representative to Bulgaria's National Assembly
Electoral system
The president is elected directly by the Bulgarian people in a two-round election for a five-year term. If a candidate obtains at least 50% of the vote with at least 50% voter turnout, that candidate is elected.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “President of Bulgaria” is bulgarian president. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through President, Bulgaria and Bulgarian, not as a finished interpretation.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q14946265. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2026, 1994, 1995 and 1997.
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