Eastern Balkans in April 2026: the most important developments in politics
In the Eastern Balkans in April 2026, politics was dominated by Bulgaria's parliamentary election on 19 April, its eighth in five years. Former president Rumen Radev led the Progressive Bulgaria coalition to victory, with exit polls projecting 39.6% of the vote and preliminary results on 20 April pointing to a landslide and a majority. Ahead of the vote, more than 2,000 election crime reports and 360 arrests were recorded. The Kremlin welcomed the result and called for pragmatic dialogue, the EU said it hoped for continued cooperation, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić congratulated Radev. On 25 April the Central Election Commission announced the 240 members of the 52nd National Assembly. Progressive Bulgaria said it aims to form a government by mid-May and would act quickly to remove Prosecutor General Sarafov.
Romania's political crisis was the second theme. On 20 April the Social Democratic Party voted overwhelmingly to withdraw support for Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, and its coalition partner demanded his resignation. By 27 April the Social Democrats had joined the AUR party in filing a no-confidence motion against the coalition government. Earlier, the president appointed chief prosecutors nominated by the Social Democratic justice minister, and AUR opposed this while ruling out backing a minority government. The prime minister said a higher retirement age for military and police personnel was unavoidable, and Romania accused Russia of irresponsibility on 25 April.
Bulgaria's foreign and defence positions drew attention earlier in the month. Its deputy foreign minister said the agreement signed with Ukraine in Kyiv was political and not binding, and the defence minister said Bulgaria takes on no military commitments under it and that NATO guarantees its security. Iranian authorities warned Bulgaria not to let the US use its airports, and an acting deputy foreign minister said there were no grounds for public alarm. Separately, a court ruled that Poland and Romania must pay roughly 2 billion euros under their vaccine contracts with Pfizer, and both indicated they might appeal.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
Click a day in the chart above for that day's brief.