'Velichie' Party Registered Candidates for the Upcoming Presidential Elections

"Velichie" submitted documents to the Central Election Commission to register its presidential ticket, with Ivelin Mihaylov as the presidential candidate and Prof Yuliana Mateeva as the vice-presidential candidate, for the election on 25 October 2026.

The party submitted 7,000 signatures as part of its registration for the presidential election.

“We are entering this time with the ambition for both us and the people to get a second chance. At the previous elections, we all believed that something could improve. We can say there has been a 10% improvement, but that is still a long way from what we all wanted,” Ivelin Mihaylov said.

He said the party had selected him and Prof Yuliana Mateeva following a survey among voters and supporters.

Asked by journalists why they were running on behalf of a political party rather than through an initiative committee, Mihaylov replied: “Because we do not want to take people’s money.”

He added that it would not be fair for candidates nominated by a party to pretend that they were standing through an initiative committee and were not party-affiliated.

Asked about his geopolitical orientation, Mihaylov said that, in such a dangerous situation, Bulgaria could not say anything against any geopolitical player.

Asked whether the president’s expanded powers should be restored, Ivelin Mihaylov said: “There is still enough power with them, as long as the president takes reasonable positions.”

According to him, the president is a partner to the executive when it acts in the interests of the people and a corrective when the executive does not act in the interests of the people. Asked whether he would visit Russia if elected president, he said there would have to be a specific reason or an invitation for that.

Source: BTA