Sergey Stanishev
Sergei Dmitrievich Stanishev (Bulgarian: Сергей Станишев) (born May 5, 1966), Bulgarian politician, is Chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Following inconclusive elections in July 2005 and a prolonged deadlock, Stanishev became Prime Minister of Bulgaria at the head of a three-party grand coalition government.
Stanishev was born in Kherson in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union). He was educated at Moscow State University, where he gained a doctorate in history in 1994. He was a visiting fellow in international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1998. He also worked as a journalist. Stanishev, the youngest ever leader of the BSP, is an unconventional politician. Although not married, he has been living for a long time with prominent journalist Elena Yoncheva. In 2002 he amazed party members when he came to a gathering at Bouzloudja on a motorcycle with a rock-style jacket that had a label on the back saying: "If you are reading this, Elena must have fallen off on the way."
In 1995 Stanishev became a staff member in the Foreign Affairs Department of the BSP. He was Chief of Foreign Policy and International Relations for the BSP from 1996 to 2001. In May 2000 he was elected a Member of the BSP Supreme Council and Member of the Executive Bureau. In June 2001, he was elected to the Bulgarian National Assembly for Ruse. In December 2001 he was elected Chairman of the BSP at the party's Congress, and also Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Coalition for Bulgaria. Since April 2004 Stanishev has also been a member of the presidency of the Party of European Socialists. Even though, at the beginning, older party members regarded him with suspicion due to his lack of experience, Stanishev has enjoyed considerable public approval mainly because of his great intellectual skills and his successful efforts to modernise the BSP.
In the general election of June 25, 2005, Stanishev was re-elected to the National Assembly, this time for a seat in Burgas. Under his leadership the Coalition for Bulgaria (a coalition dominated by the BSP) won 31% of the votes. Stanishev said that the next government "should be led by the party which won most votes in the elections." On 20 July, after nearly a month of political uncertainty, Stanishev agreed to attempt to form a Cabinet. On July 27, 2005 the Bulgarian Parliament chose him as the new Prime Minister in a coalition government with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. The vote was 120 against 119. However, the parliament voted against Stanishev's proposed Cabinet by 119 to 117 votes.
This was followed by another three weeks of political deadlock. Finally on August 16 Stanishev was able to form a three-party grand coalition with the party of outgoing Prime Minister Simeon Sakskoburggotski and with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. Stanishev said the coalition's priorities would be "European integration, social responsibility and economic growth."