Presidential candidates Iliana Yotova and Andrey Gyurov held their only head-to-head debate tonight, live on national TV, three days before the runoff. They argued over Black Sea security, the war in Ukraine, which Russia began with its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and the contract with Botas.

On Monday, sociologist Vanya Georgieva of Alpha Research told Bulgarian National Radio that Bulgarians expect a debate between the two.

How it all started: Pollster: Yotova and Gyurov need a debate if they want more support

Gyurov accused Yotova of lying about Ukraine. She called some of his words untrue.

Yotova said she raised Black Sea security about a month ago with the leaders of 193 countries at the UN General Assembly. When she came back, she called the Consultative Council for National Security and asked partners in the EU and NATO for support. She proposes a meeting of Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Georgia and Russia to agree a moratorium on drones and attacks on merchant ships. "You can't leave Russia out of this, no one else can make decisions in its place," Yotova said.

Gyurov said diplomatic proposals do not replace concrete steps to defend the country. "A wish for a moratorium is not a defence strategy, silence is not defence," he said. In his view, Bulgaria should first have named the danger clearly and joined the UN resolution. Gyurov called for real means to counter drones and for an anti-missile shield. He called the meeting of the council a late reaction with no concrete decisions. Keeping a low profile leads to conflicts escalating, he said, and that is why the Black Sea is less safe than the Persian Gulf.

Yotova said the war began not in 2022 but in 2013–2014. The fact is that Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022. She said the head of state must act in the national interest, including when a future peace in Ukraine is discussed. A peace deal that includes Russia is needed, she added, and there have been different peace plans over the years.

Gyurov said Russia must stop its aggression and the aggressor state must be named, otherwise there is no preparation for defence. He said the defence minister refused to let Bulgaria join such an initiative because he thought it too costly, and a decision to take part came only after the escalation. Yotova replied that this was untrue and that Bulgaria had joined.

Yotova accused Gyurov of committing Bulgaria to the coalition of the willing, which she said means soldiers in Ukraine. She also asked why, as prime minister with a sitting National Assembly, he did not listen to the MPs. Gyurov called all talk of sending Bulgarian soldiers a lie and said two National Assembly decisions ban it. The agreement he signed in Kyiv opens the door for Bulgarian companies to take part in rebuilding Ukraine after peace comes, he explained.

On Botas, Yotova said the government of We Continue the Change under Kiril Petkov and Asen Vasilev had cut Russian gas deliveries overnight, so the caretaker cabinet made a rushed decision. She said the contract "will still prove useful to the state". Gyurov replied that Gazprom stopped deliveries unilaterally to leave the country "in the dark and the cold", and that the government of the time acted fast and secured liquefied gas. He sees no benefit in the contract, criticised its terms and pointed to a debt of $400m and payments of half a million euros every month. Gyurov said Yotova misleads citizens when she presents the agreement with Ukraine as binding, unlike the Botas contract. She replied that inflation jumped under his caretaker cabinet.

The two also spoke about the role of the presidency. Gyurov said it is now like a piano in the living room that everyone walks around and nobody plays. In his view, the president can bring together talented people, young people, entrepreneurs and scientists around problems bigger than one term, and can act as a counterweight to the government when it gets carried away. At the moment, one party holds the majority in parliament and the executive, he said. Yotova replied that since the start of 2017 the presidency has been a well-tuned piano that plays tunes people expect and like.

Yotova said she is backed by Progressive Bulgaria, the Socialist Party (BSP), VMRO, NDSV, the party of Dr Dertliev and a broad initiative committee of people who vote for different parties in parliamentary elections. She said some of the groups behind Gyurov have sought support from the DPS, and she asked him what he promised them. Gyurov replied that a broad initiative committee stands behind him, with no party leaders and no representatives of State Security. He said he has never sought support from party leaders and expects it from citizens.

Gyurov said turnout was low in the first round because people are being scared with war. He promised not to scare them and added that Bulgaria can do more and deserves more. Both urged people to vote in the runoff, and Gyurov added: "Go out, vote, take someone with you."