Stanishev, Sergei Dmitrievich
Sergei Dmitrievich Stanishev, 1966–, Bulgarian political leader and political scientist. Born in the Ukraine, he studied at Moscow State Univ. (B.A., 1989; Ph.D., 1994), and taught in Moscow (1998) and was a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics (1999–2000). Stanishev also worked as a freelance journalist, and from 1996 to 2001 was head of foreign policy and international relations for the Bulgarian Socialist party (BSP). In 2001 he was first elected to the Bulgarian parliament and also became chairman of the BSP. In 2005 Stanishev became premier of Bulgaria, serving until 2009. A strong supporter of the European Union, he helped steer Bulgaria toward membership (2007) in the EU. In 2012 Stanishev became president of the Party of European Socialists, a European Union party consisting of national Socialist parties. Following a poor showing by the BSP in the 2014 EU parliamentary elections, he resigned from Bulgaria's parliament in 2014 to sit in the European Parliament and subsequently stepped down as BSP chairman. A scholarly politician, he has written more than 50 publications on foreign policy matters.