Sofia (Bulgaria) (AFP) - Bulgaria on Sunday held its eighth legislative election in five years, with ex-president Rumen Radev’s grouping tipped to win on a pledge to fight corruption, after an anti-graft movement triggered a long political crisis.

The European Union’s poorest member has been through successive governments since 2021, when anti-graft rallies ended the conservative administration of long-time leader Boyko Borissov.

Radev, who has called for renewing ties with Russia and opposes military aid to Ukraine, was president for nine years in the Balkan nation of 6.5 million people.

He stepped down in January and now leads the new centre-left Progressive Bulgaria group of parties. Opinion polls before the election suggested his coalition could gain 35 percent of votes for the 240 seat parliament.

The former air force general, 62, has said he wants to rid the country of its “oligarchic governance model”. He backed new anti-corruption protests last year that brought down the latest conservative-backed government.

“Everything simply has to change,” Stiliana Andonova, a retired engineer, told AFP after casting her ballot in Sofia, listing “the judicial system” and “corruption” among concerns.

Polling stations are to close at 1700 GMT, with exit polls expected immediately after. Final results are expected on Monday at the earliest.

- ‘Practical relations with Russia’ -

Borissov’s pro-European GERB party is likely to come second, according to opinion polls, with around 20 percent, ahead of the liberal PP-DB.

“There is a huge risk that Bulgaria could change its geopolitical course and orientation,” Gergana Mihailova, a 47-year-old finance expert, told AFP after casting her vote.

After voting in Sofia, front-runner Radev said Bulgaria has “a historic chance to break once and for all with the… oligarchic model”. He called for a “democratic, modern, European Bulgaria”.

He also said he hoped for “practical relations with Russia, based on mutual respect and equal treatment”.

Radev has denounced a 10-year defence agreement signed last month between Bulgaria and Ukraine, which has been battling Russia’s full-scale invasion since 2022.

He has also opposed Bulgaria sending arms to Ukraine, though he has said he would not use his country’s veto to block EU decisions.

Borissov, who headed the country virtually uninterrupted for close to a decade, has dismissed suggestions that Radev brings something “new”.

After voting in his hometown Bankya, just outside of Sofia, Borissov hailed his party for having “extremely pro-European position,” underlining its support for Ukraine and Brussels.

- ‘No one to vote for’ -

A lack of trust in politics has affected voter turnout, which slumped to 39 percent in the last election in 2024.

But with Radev rallying voters, a high turnout is expected this time, according to analyst Boryana Dimitrova from the Alpha Research polling institute.

Turnout at 11:00 am stood at 12 percent compared to 9.6 percent at the same time in the last election.

Miglena Boyadjieva, a taxi driver, said she always votes, but the “problem is that there is no one to vote for”.

“You vote for one person and get others. The system has to change,” she told AFP.

Political parties have called on Bulgarians to show up for the polls, also to curb the impact of vote buying.

In recent weeks, police have seized more than one million euros in raids against vote buying in stepped-up operations.

They have also detained hundreds of people, including local councillors and mayors.