Jump to content

Boyko Borisov

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 85.187.184.95 (talk) at 22:33, 30 October 2011. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Boyko Borisov
Бойко Борисов
Prime Minister of Bulgaria
Assumed office
27 July 2009
PresidentGeorgi Parvanov
Rosen Plevneliev
DeputySimeon Djankov
Tsvetan Tsvetanov
Preceded bySergei Stanishev
Mayor of Sofia
In office
8 November 2005 – 27 July 2009
Preceded byMinko Gerdzhikov (Acting)
Succeeded byMinko Gerdzhikov (Acting)
Personal details
Born (1959-06-13) 13 June 1959 (age 65)
Bankya, Bulgaria
Political partyCitizens for European Development of Bulgaria (2006–present)
Other political
affiliations		National Movement for Stability and Progress (2001–2005)
SpouseStela Borisova (Divorced)
Domestic partnerTsvetelina Borislavova (Separated)
ChildrenVeneta

Boyko Metodiev Borisov (Bulgarian: Бойко Методиев Борисов, IPA: [ˈbɔjko mɛˈtɔdiɛf boˈrisof]; born 13 June 1959) is a Bulgarian politician who has been Prime Minister of Bulgaria since July 2009. Previously he was Mayor of Sofia from 8 November 2005 until his election as Prime Minister.

After his party, GERB, won the July 2009 parliamentary election, Borisov became Bulgaria's 50th Prime Minister[1][2] on 27 July 2009.

Biography

Early life

Borisov was born in 1959 in Bankya (then a village, today a town part of greater Sofia) to Ministry of Internal Affairs official Metodi Borisov and elementary school teacher Veneta Borisova. 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.[3] 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.[4] He quit the Ministry in 1990. In 1991 he founded a private security company, Ipon-1, and later guarded personalities like Todor Zhivkov and Simeon II. Borisov has been actively participating in karate championships since 1978, serving as the coach of the Bulgarian national team and a referee of international matches. He currently has 7th dan black belt in karate and is the chairman of the Bulgarian Karate Federation. Borisov has also been a coach for the Bulgarian national karate team for many years.

Borisov is not currently married, but lives with Tsvetelina Borislavova, head of the Economic and Investment Bank. Borisov has a daughter, Veneta, from his former marriage to the physician Stela. Borisov also has a sister, Krasimira Ivanova. Borisov's great-grandfather was executed in the wake of the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944.[5]

Chief Secretary

Boyko Borisov was the Chief Secretary of the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior between 2001 and 2005, with the rank of General.[6][7][8][9][10][11] In the 2005 parliamentary elections he was candidate for member of Parliament for the National Movement Simeon II, and was elected in two regions but decided to retain his job as Chief Secretary of the Ministry. Later that year he resigned from this post, and instead participated in and won the elections for mayor of Sofia, where he replaced Stefan Sofiyanski.

Founding of GERB

Borisov founded a new political party, GERB in 2006 (in English Coat of Arms, while also being an acronym for "Grazhdani za evropeisko razvitie na Bulgariya" or "Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria"). GERB won the first Bulgarian European Parliament elections on 20 May 2007, despite a very low poll attendance and turnout of 28.6%,[12] which prompted Borisov to voice his wish for early parliamentary elections. Following a party congress in January 2010, Borisov became the official leader of GERB (of which he had been only an "informal leader"),[13] thus replacing Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who had served under Borisov at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and later as a vice-mayor of Sofia.

Prime Minister of Bulgaria

Borisov's party GERB also won the parliamentary election on 5 July 2009 by collecting 39.71% of the popular vote and 116 of the 240 seats in parliament.[14][15] Since 27 July 2009 Borisov has been serving as Prime Minister of Bulgaria in a minority GERB-dominated centre-right government.[1][2]

Domestic policy

Borisov's economic policies are mostly aimed at curbing corruption in the public administration[16] and building an adequate infrastructure. One of the main goals in this direction is the expansion of the national motorway network, of which Lyulin was the first motorway to be completed.[17] The government has also approved a strategy for the development of the energy sector until 2020, which includes the completion of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant and expanding renewable energy capacities.[18] The acquisition of European funds has also increased from 2.6%[19] to 20%.[20]

Specialised police actions have tackled corruption in the administration and a number of high-profile members of the organised crime have been imprisoned, though there has been little improvement in the rule of law.[21]

Borisov is also a strong supporter of the total smoking ban and is to implement the measure in 2012 with the aim to reduce the number of smokers from 40% of the population to about 15-20%.[22]

During its term, Borisov's government also nationalised all private pension funds, a step that was later rendered illegal by the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria.[23]

In a move that outraged the scientific community of the country, his cabinet reduced scientific funding with 38% and the educational budget with 21%.[24][25]

Foreign policy

Image

Boyko Borisov's "man of the people" attitude and the failings of the previous government have been seen as the main sources of his popularity.[26] Borisov has also marked a very wide media presence, being regularly cited in most major media outlets and has made a total of 1,157 statements from his election to the end of 2010.[27] This trend has continued throughout 2011, as Borisov and his party completely dominate the country's media reports.[28] He has also been the subject of a number of sycophantic plaudits on the part of his supporters, including a poem lauding his "dignified leadership".[29] Borisov's popularity has been steadily declining due to ongoing economic woes and failure to carry out promised reforms.[30]

Borisov's hardline governing style has received criticism, described by some as authoritarian.[31][32][33][34] In early 2011 a number of think-tanks and analysts have raised concern about the degradation of media freedom and transparency in the country,[35] while in 2011 reports surfaced that Borisov has been paying cash to journalists for a positive portrayal and has been threatening others for criticism as early as 2005.[36] In 2011, Bulgaria was ranked as the worst-performing EU member in terms of media freedom, according to Freedom House, and ranked 77th internationally.[37]

Controversy

Borisov, on 6 February 2009, speaking in Chicago, told Bulgarian expatriates that the human material and the basis of Bulgarian population at the moment include one million Roma, 700,000 Turks and 2.5 million retirees. He added that the human material that they are left with as voters and as a pool for recruiting staff is really not that big, as half a million people have left Bulgaria.[38][39][40][41] Vice-president of the Party of European Socialists, Jan Marinus Wiersma, accused Borisov of referring "to the Turks, Roma and pensioners in Bulgaria as "bad human material," and claimed that GERB "has already crossed the invisible line between right wing populism and extremism."[42]

Borisov has denied these accusations and in turn, he has accused the Bulgarian Socialist Party of attempting to discredit him.[43] Borisov stated in a meeting with NGOs on 5 March 2009 that he intends to include representatives of the Roma ethnicity in all levels of government, including a potential minister,[44] and has reached out to offer inclusivity to Bulgaria’s ethnic Turkish population; although these measures and proposals have been seen as politically empty.[4]

Corruption Scandals and Connections with Organized Crime

In the early nineties, Boyko Borisov was accused by the magazine U.S. Congressional Quarterly (CQ)[45] of being directly linked to the biggest mobsters in Bulgaria. "The most powerful politician in Bulgaria, Washington's newest ally in the global war on terror, is a close associate of known mobsters and linked to almost 30 unsolved murders in the Black Sea republic." CQ asserted.

On 14 January 2011, journalists from the Bulgarian weekly newspaper Galeria distributed audio records of an alleged conversation between Borisov and Customs Agency Head Vanyo Tanov. The tapes reveal that Borisov instructed customs authorities to immediately stop their investigation of "Ledenika" brewery which had been suspected of illegal activities and tax crimes.[46] Later those tapes were declared fake (manipulated) by two independent examinations.[47] [48]

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Борисов ще е премиер, остана без часовник заради бас" (in Bulgarian). Dnes.bg. 2009-07-05. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  2. ^ a b "Борисов обеща бърз кабинет и съкращения на висши чиновници" (in Bulgarian). Дневник. 2009-07-06. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  3. ^ "Бойко Борисов" (in Bulgarian). Darik News. 2007-10-27. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  4. ^ a b "Boiko Borissov: A general history". Sofia Echo. 2009-07-10. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
  5. ^ http://paper.standartnews.com/bg/article.php?d=2009-07-13&article=285380
  6. ^ Редакционни | Обясненията за показните убийства | Пасове между съотборници - Dnevnik.bg
  7. ^ България | Акциите на МВР - приказка без край - Dnevnik.bg
  8. ^ Общини | Джеф Стайн не приема поканата на Бойко Борисов - Dnevnik.bg
  9. ^ Общини | Бойко Борисов забравил спомените си за "Топлофикация" | Спорът му с Овчаров и Петков се ожесточи - Dnevnik.bg
  10. ^ Интервю | Бойко Борисов: Като искате от мен отговорност, дайте ми права | Кандидат за нов кметски мандат в София - Dnevnik.bg
  11. ^ Акцент | Много координатори - хилаво почистване - Dnevnik.bg
  12. ^ ЦИКЕП :: Избирателна активност
  13. ^ Учредяване на партия ГЕРБ - БНТ
  14. ^ "Резултати за страната при обработени 100.00% протоколи на СИК в РИК" (in Bulgarian). ЦИК. 2009-07-07. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  15. ^ "Bulgaria opposition wins election". BBC. 2009-07-06. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  16. ^ Europe's Poorest Country Heads for the Polls, Spiegel, 7 March 2009
  17. ^ Lyulin motorway is complete, to be tested by PM, The Sofia Echo, 19 January 2011
  18. ^ Bulgarian Parliament approves 2020 energy strategy, 1 June 2011, The Sofia Echo
  19. ^ България последна в ЕС по усвояване на еврофондове, Trud, 15 January 2010
  20. ^ Медийно досие: Как върви усвояването на еврофондове за регионално развитие, Dnevnik, 14 June 2010
  21. ^ A welcome onslaught on corruption raises some fears of a police state, The Economist, 27 May 2011
  22. ^ Smoking in Bulgaria? Cut!, The Sofia Echo, 18 March 2011
  23. ^ Национализацията на пенсионните фондове – незаконна, Dnes.bg, 6 June 2011
  24. ^ Nature Magazine has pessimistic forecast for Bulgarian science, The Sofia Echo, 13 January 2011
  25. ^ Мрачни перспективи за науката в България, Novinar, 13 January 2011
  26. ^ Anti-corruption prime minister surfs wave of popularity, The Telegraph, 18 September 2009
  27. ^ Властта иска да опитоми медиите, Trud, 30 April 2011
  28. ^ Bulgaria's Ruling GERB Dominates Media in Elections Eve, Novinite, 18 October 2011
  29. ^ A new prime minister enchants Bulgarians with his forceful ways, The Economist, 7 January 2010
  30. ^ Bulgarians beg for day without busy PM Borisov, Reuters, 5 July 2011
  31. ^ Bulgaria Left-Wing Socialists: PM Espouses 'Caveman's Anticommunism', 29 November 2009, novinite.com
  32. ^ Живко Георгиев: Наблюдаваме авторитарен режим на управление., news.sutrin.com, 19 November 2009
  33. ^ ЖИВКО ГЕОРГИЕВ: НАБЛЮДАВАТ СЕ ЗАЯВКИ ЗА АВТОРИТАРЕН СТИЛ НА УПРАВЛЕНИЕ , Bulgaria-news.bg, 12 November 2009
  34. ^ Иво Христов: Има прекрасни условия за създаването на авторитарен режим, Glasove.com, 6 November 2009
  35. ^ Press play, The Sofia Echo, 29 April 2011
  36. ^ Wikileaks: US Ambassador Beyrle: Boyko Borisov - We Must Never Forget Who We Are Dealing With, novinite.com, 26 May 2011. Journalists tell us privately that Borisov pays cash for positive coverage and threatens those who report negatively on him.
  37. ^ Bulgaria Worst in EU Media Freedom, Novinite.com, 3 May 2011
  38. ^ Изказване на Бойко Борисов в Чикаго – емигрантска версия Chicago press conference transcription in Bulgarian
  39. ^ Chicago audio record
  40. ^ Mayor of Sofia brands Roma, Turks and retirees 'bad human material', Telegraph.co.uk, February 6, 2009
  41. ^ Sofia Mayor to Bulgarian Expats: We Are Left with Bad Human Material Back Home Sofia Mayor to Bulgarian Expats: We Are Left with Bad Human Material Back Home
  42. ^ Challenge to EPP over leader's statement on "bad human material"., socialistgroup.eu, February 6, 2009
  43. ^ "Бойко Борисов: Никога не съм казвал, че пенсионерите са лош човешки материал" (in Bulgarian). Български фактор. 2009-06-07. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  44. ^ Sofia Mayor Party Mulls Roma Minister in Future Cabinet
  45. ^ http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_165193915
  46. ^ http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=124159
  47. ^ http://dnes.dir.bg/news/manipulatzia-boyko-borisov-vanyo-tanov-Podslushvaneto-na-Tanov-zapisi-7820416
  48. ^ http://www.btv.bg/story/1789847804-Vtorata_ekspertiza_potvardi_che_razgovorite_na_Tanov_sa_manipulirani.html
Wikiquote has quotations related to Boyko Borisov.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boyko Borisov.
Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Sofia
2005–2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Bulgaria
2009–present 		Incumbent

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boyko_Borisov&oldid=458201367"