Bulgaria's acting President Yotova leads in exit polls of runoff election

Acting President Iliana Yotova is the apparent winner of Bulgaria ’s presidential runoff, initial results of the vote count on Sunday showed.The race for the largely ceremonial post had pitted Yotova, an ally of Prime Minister Rumen Radev, against Andrey Gyurov, a banker and former caretaker prime minister backed by the pro-Western opposition.Yotova gained between 57.4% and 58.2% of the vote, according to estimates from several polling institutes, well ahead of Gyurov, who garnered between 38.6% and 39.6%.If confirmed by official results, Yotova would become Bulgaria’s first elected female head of state.Gyurov conceded defeat saying that “this is how the Bulgarian citizens have voted,” and added that the results had to be accepted as they stood.The war in Ukraine, close to Bulgaria’s borders, played a significant role in the election in this country on NATO’s eastern flank.Throughout the campaign, Yotova repeatedly advocated a peaceful solution for Ukraine through negotiations with…