Exit polls show that the newly formed party of ex-President Rumen Radev has won in the general elections in Bulgaria, but will not have sufficient seats to form a Government by itself.

Radev, who stepped down as President to form a party called Progressive Bulgaria, promised to break the deadlock after half a dozen inconclusive elections held in close succesion. The latest polls show a significant collapse for the usually largest party in Bulgaria – Boyko Borisov’s GERB, with Radev sweeping votes from them, his old BSP socialist party and the pro-Russian Rebirth nationalist party. He’s projected to win just under 40 percent of the vote against 15 percent for GERB and 13 percent for the liberal PP-DB coalition. This would put Radev close to the needed 120 seats, but he would stil have to get PP-DB or BSP to join him in coalition.

Before the election, the former airforce general faced accusations that he would take a soft stand toward Russia, causing concerns in the more hardline EU capitals. As President, Radev was one of the more nationalist politicians on the dispute with Macedonia. Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski today, tongue-in-cheek, expressed his disappointment that only about 250 Bulgarian citizens registered to vote in the diplomatic missions in Macedonia. Bulgaria claims that it has issued up to 200,000 citizenships in Macedonia.