Bulgaria to hold presidential elections on Nov. 14

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgarians will go to the polls on Nov. 14 to elect a new president, lawmakers decided on Thursday.

A parliamentary election could be held on the same date — the third one this year as the deeply fragmented parliament repeatedly fails to come up with a viable government coalition.

By law, Bulgaria’s president is elected in a popular vote every five years to the largely ceremonial position.

Incumbent Rumen Radev, 58, who was elected in 2016 with the support of the Socialist Party, has maintained a high public rating ever since and has now has a good chance of being re-elected.

As a fierce opponent of former prime minister Boyko Borissov, Radev has earned approval across the political spectrum for his calls to eradicate widespread corruption in the European Union’s poorest member country.