Bulgaria’s impending presidential election is a tempting opportunity for Russia to try to haul a vulnerable eastern European country back into its strategic orbit.
Rumen Radev — a daredevil MiG-29 jet pilot — is the candidate who has set alarm bells ringing over Sofia’s ties to Moscow. A loop-the-looping highlight at airshows, he is the pick of the opposition Socialists, who are desperate to repair damaged relations with the Kremlin in the vote on November 6.
Radev was shortlisted after Bulgaria’s socialist leaders conducted an elaborately choreographed trip to Moscow in July. The fighter ace was formally nominated last month and has …read more
Source: European Voice