FILE PHOTO: Bulgarian President Rumen Radev departs after delivering an address to the nation at the Presidency, in Sofia, Bulgaria, January 19, 2026. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov/File Photo
SOFIA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev stepped down on Friday after the Constitutional Court approved his resignation, amid widespread speculation that he plans to launch his own political party to run in a looming parliamentary election.
Radev, 62, whose mandate had been due to expire next January, handed over his duties as head of state in a short ceremony to his vice president, Iliana Iotova, who becomes the first female president of the EU and NATO member state.
