Balgarianovinite.com Ilia Lazarov, a Member of the European Parliament, was elected Chair of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) at the party’s National Reporting and Election Conference in Sofia on Saturday, the UDF reported. Lazarov previously served as the party’s Secretary-General.
Rumen Hristov stepped down as Chair to become Deputy Chair along with UDF Sofia chapter leader and Municipal Councillor Anton Koychev, Karlovo Mayor Emil Kabaivanov and the party’s leader in Varna, Yanko Stanev. Miglena Goranova was elected Secretary-General.
The UDF is part of the GERB-UDF coalition, which is represented in parliament.
At the opening of the conference, Hristov presented party membership cards to young people who had chosen to join the centre-right party.
The National Conference also adopted a political declaration, stating: “The Union of Democratic Forces, the first democratic community in Bulgaria after the end of communism, which set the country on the path to full membership of NATO and the European Union, carried out the transition from communism to a market economy, and embraced freedom in all its dimensions as the foundation of society’s values, identifies the victory of the democratic community in the presidential election [this coming autumn] as its most important political objective”.
“There is no democratic community in which the UDF does not participate,” the declaration says. “There is no chance of winning the presidential election without the joint efforts of all political forces within that democratic community, including GERB and the UDF. Anything less would amount to participating for participation’s sake and handing victory to the left. That would be yet another betrayal of the people who consistently support and vote for the values of democracy.”
The declaration adds that the presidential election represents a historic opportunity for Bulgaria’s democratic community to unite and repay voters’ trust through mature political action leading to victory. The UDF called on all democratic parties to work together for a joint nomination for president and vice-president.
On Wednesday, Hristov wrote in a Facebook post that the time has come to make way for a new party leader to take responsibility for the future development of the UDF. Union of Democratic Forces Elects MEP Ilia Lazarov as Party Leader 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-07-04 13:00:19 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law