Hristo Ivanov (politician)

Ivanov has a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from the University of Sofia (St. Kliment Ohridski). He has specialized in US National Security Law and Judicial Appointments Procedures at the American University's Washington College of Law through the Fulbright/Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program.

Between 1996 and 2002, he worked as a coordinator of legal and justice reform projects under the Initiative for Rule of Law at the American Bar Association.

Between 2002 and 2006, he worked as an independent consultant for various international institutions and private clients on projects related to the evaluation of legislations and promoting the rule of law.

Between 2006 and 2014, Ivanov was Program Director at the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives, where he led projects related to the judicial reform, the prevention of corruption and promoting the rule of law.

He was registered as a lawyer in 2002, but because of unpaid bar association fees he lost his license to practice law [3][4]

In December 2016, Ivanov announced his intention to create a new political party called "Yes, Bulgaria!" (Да, България!) under the slogan "Let's get political!". In a bid to promote the new political entity, he initiated a series of meetings entitled "Is there a Bulgarian dream? Talks about Bulgaria".

Hristo Ivanov was appointed Deputy Prime Minister for justice, internal affairs and security, as well as Justice Minister in the transitional government of Georgi Bliznashki. After the transitional cabinet's term expired, Ivanov was appointed as Justice Minister in the Second Borisov Cabinet on November 8, 2014. He resigned on December 9, 2015 after disagreements with Boyko Borisov over Ivanov's proposed justice reform plan. Ivanov was primarily worried about the excessive powers of Bulgaria's prosecution.[5]

Following his resignation from Borisov's government, Ivanov remained committed to the rule of law and continued to argue for reform in Bulgaria's Prosecution. His opinion was shared by the Venice Commission whose President emphasized that “The Soviet model of [Bulgaria's] prosecution must be decisively turned down. It turns it into a source of corruption and blackmail and creates opportunities for its use for political aims.”[6] In 2017, Ivanov repeatedly argued that Bulgaria's Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov should resign "without any doubt."[7] Indeed, Tsatsarov was nominated for sanctions under the Magnitsky Act which allows the US Government to sanction foreign government officials who violate human rights to hide corruption.[8] Ivanov has expressed discontent that all recent reports by the Turkish Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department refer to cigarette smuggling by the Bulgarian company Bulgartabac, but the Bulgarian prosecution refuses to investigate.[9]

Hristo Ivanov is a vocal critic of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification to which Bulgaria is subjected by the European Commission. Under this mechanism, the Commission is supposed to verify progress in key areas such as judicial independence and the fight against corruption. Ivanov argues, however, that this mechanism has been "politically killed": he contends that Jean-Claude Juncker and Frans Timmermans make unprincipled comments that this mechanism would be terminated for Bulgaria despite the fact that there is no real judicial reform and the government establishes "authoritarian practices."[10]

Hristo Ivanov is married and has two sons. He maintains an active Facebook page.