2026 in Bulgaria
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Events in the year 2026 in Bulgaria.
Incumbents
- President: Rumen Radev (until 23 January); Iliana Iotova (since 23 January)
- Prime Minister: Rosen Zhelyazkov (until 12 February); Andrey Gyurov (12 February to 8 May); Rumen Radev (from 8 May)
Events
January
- 1 January – Adoption of the euro.[1]
- 19 January – President Rumen Radev announces his resignation effective 23 January.[2]
- 23 January – Iliana Iotova becomes the first female president of Bulgaria following Rumen Radev's resignation.[3]
February
- 1 February – The end of circulation of the Bulgarian lev.[1]
- 11 February – President Iotova nominates Andrey Gyurov, the deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, as caretaker prime minister.[4] He is formally appointed the next day.[5]
April
- 19 April – 2026 Bulgarian parliamentary election: The Progressive Bulgaria coalition led by former president Rumen Radev wins a plurality of 44.6% of votes in elections to the National Assembly.[6]
May
- 8 May – Rumen Radev is formally elected as prime minister by the National Assembly.[7]
- 16 May – Bulgaria's Dara wins Eurovision 2026 in Austria with the single "Bangaranga", making her the first contestant from Bulgaria to win the Eurovision Song Contest.[8]
June
- 9 June – The Radev government announces that it would stop supplying weapons to Ukraine.[9]
July
- 17 July – The Monument to Vasil Levski in Targovishte is officially opened.[10]
- 22 July – The National Assembly approves the stationing of an American aerial refueling tanker at Bezmer Air Base.[11]
August
- 8 August – A drone that originated from Romania explodes near a section of the Trans-Balkan pipeline in the vicinity of the Kardam border crossing.[12]
- 10–16 August – 2026 Men's European U-20 Water Polo Championship in Varna.[13]
Predicted and scheduled events
- 9–26 September – 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship in Bulgaria, Finland, Italy and Romania.[14][15]
- 25 October – 2026 Bulgarian presidential election[16]
Art and entertainment
Holidays
- 1 January – New Year's Day
- 3 March – Liberation Day
- 10 April – Orthodox Good Friday
- 11–13 April – Orthodox Easter
- 1 May – Labour Day
- 6 May – Armed Forces Day and Saint George's Day
- 24 May – Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavic Script Day
- 6 September – Unification Day
- 22 September – Independence Day
- 1 November – Day of the Bulgarian Enlighteners
- 24 December – Christmas Eve
- 25–26 December – Christmas Days
Deaths
- 3 January – Dimitar Penev, 80, football player (CSKA Sofia, national team) and manager (national team)[19]
- 16 March – Elza Goeva, 97, painter.[20]
- 28 April – Vasko Boev, 37, football player (Spartak Varna, Kaliakra Kavarna, Dobrudzha Dobrich)[21]
- 2 June – Lyuben Dilov Jr., 61, writer and journalist, MP (2005–2009, since 2021).[22]
- 10 July – Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov, 74, cosmonaut (Mir EP-2).[23]
References
- 1 2 Thorpe, Nick (1 January 2026). "Bulgaria joins the euro after rocky path to new currency". BBC News. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
- ↑ Thorpe, Nick (20 January 2026). "Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev says he will resign ahead of snap election". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ↑ Nenov, Stoyan (23 January 2026). "Bulgaria's Radev steps down as president, expected to launch own party". Reuters. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
- ↑ "Bulgaria's president picks senior central bank official as acting PM". Al Jazeera. 11 February 2026.
- ↑ "Bulgaria appoints caretaker government until elections". AP News. 12 February 2026.
- ↑ "Russian-friendly ex-president wins Bulgaria's snap parliamentary elections". The Kyiv Independent. 19 April 2026. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ "Bulgaria's parliament votes new government into office". AP News. 8 May 2026. Retrieved 10 May 2026.
- ↑ "Bangaranga! Bulgaria wins Eurovision - but UK comes last". BBC. 17 May 2026. Retrieved 17 May 2026.
- ↑ Martin Fornusek (9 June 2026). "'Time to sit at the negotiating table' —Bulgaria to stop sending arms to Ukraine". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
- ↑ Metodieva, Darina (18 July 2025). "Изграждат нов паметник на Васил Левски в Търговище". nova.bg. NOVA. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
- ↑ "Parliament approves stationing of U.S. tanker aircraft at Bezmer". Radio Bulgaria. 22 July 2026. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
- ↑ "Drone explodes near Trans-Balkan gas pipeline in Bulgaria". Türkiye Today. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- ↑ New dates for 2026 European U20 Water Polo Championships announced, europeanaquatics.org. 30 September 2025. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
- ↑ "Bulgaria joins pool of CEV EuroVolley 2026 Men co-organisers". CEV. 26 February 2024.
- ↑ "България ще бъде един от домакините на ЕвроВолей 2026 за мъже" [Bulgaria will be one of the hosts of EuroVolleyball 2026 for men]. BVF (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian Volleyball Federation. 26 February 2024.
- ↑ "Bulgaria sets its next presidential election for Oct. 25". Associated Press. 31 July 2026. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
- ↑ "Bulgaria Public Holidays". Public Holidays Global. Archived from the original on 10 March 2026. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
- ↑ "Holidays and Observances in Bulgaria in 2026". Time and Date. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
- ↑ "The great coach and football player Dimitar Penev has passed away". Bgnes. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ↑ "Голямата българска художничка Елза Гоева издъхна на 97". Новини СЕГА (in Bulgarian). 16 March 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
- ↑ "VELIKA TRAGEDIJA! Umro čuveni Vasko, imao je samo 37 godina!". Sport. 28 April 2026.
- ↑ "Bulgaria's Lyuben Dilov Jr. Passes Away After Long Career in Media, Politics and Television". Novinite. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
- ↑ "Напусна ни вторият български космонавт Александър Александров". Mediapool.bg (in Bulgarian). 10 July 2026. Retrieved 10 July 2026.