Boyko Borisov
Boyko Metodiev Borisov is a Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria on three separate occasions, serving a total of 9 years between 2009 and 2021, making him the country's longest-serving post-communist Prime Minister. A member of the GERB party, which he founded and currently leads, he previously served as Mayor of Sofia from 2005 to 2009. Borisov remains politically active to date and currently serves as a Member of the National Assembly.
Borisov was elected mayor of Sofia in 2005. In December 2005, he was the founding chair of the conservative political party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, becoming its lead candidate in the 2009 general election. Borisov led GERB to a landslide victory in 2009, defeating the incumbent Socialist Party, and resigned as mayor of Sofia to be sworn in as prime minister. He resigned in 2013, following nationwide protests against the government's energy policy, but after leading GERB to victory in the 2014 general election, he was again named Bulgaria's prime minister. His second term ended similarly to his first, after Borisov resigned in January 2017, this time following GERB's defeat in the 2016 presidential election. As before, Borisov led GERB to election victory again in the snap 2017 general election, becoming prime minister for a third time.
Borisov-led governing coalitions, Bulgaria experienced an improvement in macroeconomic situation and general political stability; however, it remained the EU's poorest member state, with nearly a quarter of its population living below the national poverty lines. Foreign direct investment fell, and corruption has led, as recently as June 2019, to repeated rejection of Bulgaria's attempts to join the Schengen Area. Electoral results for Borisov and his party were overshadowed by allegations of fraud in 2013, 2015, and in 2019, both locally and for the European Parliament. Judicial threats and attacks against journalists increased to the point where journalism in Bulgaria became "dangerous" according to Reporters Without Borders, which ranked Bulgaria 111th globally in press freedom in 2019. In 2019, former U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria James Pardew stated that a "national political environment with little government or criminal accountability and no serious opposition to challenge the current government" was in place as a result of collusion, corruption, and stifling of the media under Borisov. On 17 March 2022, Borisov was detained after allegations of misuse of EU funds; he was released after spending 24 hours in prison.
In 2013, Borisov became the oldest person ever to play for a Bulgarian professional club when he appeared for FC Vitosha Bistritsa in the B Group, the second division of Bulgarian football.
Early life and family
Borisov was born in 1959 in Bankya to the Ministry of Internal Affairs official Metodi Borisov and elementary school teacher Veneta Borisova. Borisov has claimed that his grandfather was executed by the communists for being a Nikola Petkov supporter in the wake of the 1944 Bulgarian coup d'état. This has been disputed, however, as Nikola Petkov was still an ally of the communist insurgents in 1944. Furthermore, Borisov's later rise within the ranks of the communist-era security services would have been unlikely with such a family background. Other sources point out that Borisov's grandfather either died during a criminal incident or that both his grandfathers died peacefully in the 1960s and 1970s.In 1977, Borisov graduated from Bankya High School with excellent grades. Between 1982 and 1990, he assumed different positions in the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a firefighter and later as a professor at the Police Academy in Sofia. As a National Security Office member, Borisov took part in the protection of crops and haylofts during the name-changing campaign towards ethnic Turks in the 1980s. From 1985 to 1990, Borisov was a lecturer at the Higher Institute for Police Officers Training and Scientific Research of the Ministry of Interior.
Borisov quit the Ministry in 1991 with the rank of major, after formally refusing to renounce his Communist Party membership or "depoliticise". In 1991, he founded a private security company, Ipon-1. He subsequently became bodyguard to Bulgaria's last communist leader, Todor Zhivkov, after the latter was overthrown in 1989, and to Simeon II. Borisov has been claiming participation in karate championships since 1978, serving as the coach of the Bulgarian national team and a referee of international matches. He said to United States President Barack Obama that he has a 7th dan black belt in karate, but his coach denied this, and stated that Borisov has never even been a karate competitor, but only an administrator of the team.
Borisov is divorced, but for a number of years lived with Tsvetelina Borislavova, head of Bulgarian American Credit Bank. Borisov has a daughter, Veneta, from his former marriage to the physician Stela. Borisov also has a sister, Krasimira Ivanova.
Civil servant
Boyko Borisov was the Chief Secretary of the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior between 2001 and 2005, with the rank of General. During that period, he became famous for getting the notorious mobster Sreten Jocić apprehended.In the 2005 Bulgarian parliamentary election, he was a parliamentary candidate of the National Movement Simeon II; he was elected in two regions but decided to retain his job as Chief Secretary of the Ministry. Later in 2005, he resigned from that post, instead of standing as a candidate in the mayoral election in Sofia. He was elected as Mayor and succeeded Stefan Sofiyanski. He was re-elected in the 2007 election.
First term as prime minister of Bulgaria
Borisov's party GERB also won the 2009 Bulgarian parliamentary election, collecting 39.72% of the popular vote and 117 of the 240 seats in parliament.Since 27 July 2009, Borisov served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria in a GERB-dominated centre-right minority government with parliamentary support from three other parliamentary groups, including the nationalist party Ataka. He invited several non-party-affiliated experts to the government, most prominent among them Simeon Dyankov, a former high-ranking World Bank Group official, and Rosen Plevneliev, manager of a large German subsidiary in Bulgaria.
Domestic policy
Borisov's stated policies were mostly aimed at curbing corruption in the public administration and building an adequate infrastructure. One of the main goals in this direction was the expansion of the national motorway network, of which Lyulin was the first motorway to be completed. The government also approved a strategy for the development of the energy sector until 2020, which includes the completion of gas interconnectors with Greece, Romania, and Turkey and expanding renewable energy capacities. The Borisov government stopped the Belene Nuclear Power Plant project after the Fukushima nuclear accident. The acquisition of European funds has increased from 2.6% to 20%.Specialized police actions have tackled corruption in the administration, and several high-profile members of the organized crime groups have been imprisoned, though as of May 2011, there was little improvement in the rule of law. At the same time, the government has been criticized by other EU members for the erosion of media freedom, falling attractiveness to investors, and continuing mafia activities. These criticisms were repeatedly leveled against Deputy Prime Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who is formally under investigation for wiretapping members of the government and parliament. During his trial, his actions were found to be justified. Media leaks raised suspicions that Borisov may have tried to interfere in the case.
According to France 24, "Once in power, he toured the country incessantly to inaugurate infrastructure projects but failed to enact structural reforms or to tackle the rampant corruption and organized crime that Brussels has long complained about." In January 2011, Euractiv wrote, "The ineffective judiciary has been largely unable to send to jail any high-profile criminals."
Borisov is a strong supporter of the total smoking ban. Although initially removing the ban introduced by the previous government, the Borisov Cabinet reintroduced it in 2012 with the aim to reduce the number of smokers from 40% of the population to about 15–20%. By 2013, the ban had led to a 3–4% decrease in cigarette sales.
Following public opposition Borisov's government banned hydraulic fracturing for shale gas exploration and extraction. A permit granted to Chevron for shale gas exploration was revoked, and any violation of the ban is subject to a 100 million leva fine.
Protests of doctors and other health professionals broke out in 2010 over failure to reform the health care sector, resulting in delayed payments and salaries. In March 2010, health minister Bozhidar Nanev resigned over a conflict of interest scandal. He was replaced by Anna-Maria Borisova, whom Boyko Borisov met accidentally on an intersection near Veliko Tarnovo and decided was fit to carry out the reform. She resigned a mere six months later, failing to implement any reforms.
File:Secretary Clinton and Bulgarian Prime Minister Borissov Hold a Joint Press Conference .jpg|thumb|210x210px|Hillary Clinton holds a joint press conference with Borisov at the Council of Ministers in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 5 February 2012.|left
Resignation
France's TotalEnergies energy company was granted an oil and gas exploration licence in 2012 to prospect for fossil fuels in Bulgaria's economic area of the Black Sea. TotalEnergies won the tender in competition with ExxonMobil and United Kingdom's Melrose Resources, which had – as of 2012 – three exploration licences for areas of Bulgaria's Black Sea shelf. This decision was hotly debated by the political opposition and led to the start of nationwide strikes in the fall and winter of 2012.Following the new eruption of nationwide protests on 12 February 2013 over high energy costs, low living standards and corruption, Borisov and his government resigned on 20 February. Before that, Borisov had accepted the resignation of Finance Minister Simeon Djankov after a dispute over farm subsidies and promised a cut in power prices and punishing foreign-owned companies—a potential risk in damaging Bulgaria–Czech Republic relations—but protests continued. He then said: "I will not participate in a government under which police are beating people." The election due in summer was rescheduled for 12 May 2013. Djankov's resignation was a blow to Borisov's center-right credentials, since Djankov spearheaded the reforms during their term in office. He was also regarded as able manager of the public administration.
The European People's Party expressed support for Borisov a month before the 2013 parliamentary elections.
Later in April, Borisov's former Agriculture minister Miroslav Naydenov revealed that the government had spied on several cabinet ministers, business figures and the opposition under orders of Tsvetan Tsvetanov, deputy chairman of GERB. Several members of parliament corroborated these claims, as well as members of the wiretapping unit in the Interior Ministry.