Filip Dimitrov
Encyclopedia
Philip Dimitrov Dimitrov (born 31 March 1955) is a Bulgaria
n politician
, Prime Minister of Bulgaria for the short period 1991-1992, MP
in the 36th (1991-1994), 37th (1994-1997) and the 40th (2005-2007) National Assembly, and MEP from January 2007 to May 2007.
, and graduated from the First English High School
, Sofia, in 1973. He graduated with a law degree from Sofia University
in 1977, and then undertook further study in the field of individual and group psychotherapy
using the psycho-dynamic approach
. He worked as an attorney in Sofia between 1979 and 1990, serving as Secretary of the Bulgarian Attorneys' Union from 1989 onwards. Bulgarian media had suggested that his office served as a Communist-era secret police hideout. He reacted immediately by giving the first order, in spite of reluctance from his allies, to reveal information on each citizen request about whether there was any data of his/her links with the secret police.
, a broad coalition against continued rule by the Bulgarian Communist Party
. He became a member of its National Coordination Council in 1990, and was its chair from December that year until December 1994. He has been a member of the Executive Council of the UDF since February 1997.
Dimitrov became Prime Minister of Bulgaria in 1991, but remained in office for only about a year, after losing a vote of confidence that he called for himself. During its term of office (until the end of 1992), his government managed to make the new democratic institutions work and started an ambitious set of democratic political and economic reforms. Under his administration, observance of human rights became an irrevocable legal and ethical norm and previous ethnic tensions and abuses were eliminated. Foreign policy focused on integration into Europe and the West. Bulgaria was the first country to recognize Macedonia unconditionally as a sovereign state. His government allowed the possibility for a free market system, which literally changed most Bulgarian cities within half a year. He insisted on the large-scale restitution of nationalized properties, although he himself had none, and his government made the first practical steps allowing citizens to re-claim property that had been confiscated by the state.
Dimitrov is directly responsible for the collapse of the Bulgarian agriculture after 1991 by restoring the land of the state-owned cooperative farms to its legitimate owners immediately instead of allowing a gradual transition from state-owned to private-owned agriculture. The problem was that all of these owners were old people, who received small pieces of land, and they had no machinery and physical strength to cultivate these lands. The infrastructure of the cooperative farms (water systems, machines, buildings etc.) was left without any supervision, and it was quickly destroyed and stolen. The actions of Dimitrov had a devastating effect for the Bulgarian agriculture. The production of agritultural goods collapsed, many people in the agriculture sector became unemployed, and the population in the Bulgarian villages dropped. His government made possible the swift restitution of citizenship and property rights for all Jewish Bulgarian emigrants.
He served in the 36th, 37th, and 40th legislatures of the National Assembly, having been elected in Sofia for the UDF on each occasion. In 2005, he was elected Deputy Speaker of the 40th National Assembly. He authored or introduced among other bills the Bill for Abolition of Mandatory Military Service and (several times) bills on preventing and sanctioning Conflict of Interest. He was a member of the Bulgarian Parliament Delegation for Relations with the European Parliament. In January through June 2007 he was a member of the European Parliament and Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.
His inability to compromise led to vetoing his candidacy both for President (fall of 2006) and Leader of the list of candidates for the European parliament (spring of 2007). In spite of his quiet withdrawal, the UDF lost both elections heavily. He was rejected by the government as a candidate for the position of Judge at the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (fall of 2007). In July 2008, he declared that he is voluntarily leaving politics for good.
In April 1997 he was appointed Ambassador of Bulgaria at the UN, New York and from August 1998 to January 2002 he was Ambassador of Bulgaria to the US. In 2004 he was a Special Envoy of the President of the CSCE for Armenia and Azerbaijan. He was a visiting scholar in the Woodrow Wilson Center in 2003. Philip Dimitrov has taught political sciences in the American University in Bulgaria since 2002. Member of the Madrid Club of Former heads of State and Government. In 2004 he was Senior member of the NED-CLS team for democratic experience exchange with Georgia. He is member of the Board of the New Bulgarian University, Honorary Chairman of the board of the George Marshal Association – Bulgaria and Program Director at the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Development In September 1999, Mr. Dimitrov was granted the Truman-Reagan Freedom Award for his contribution to overcoming Communism. During the 2008-2009 academic year, Dimitrov holds a position as a visiting professor at Christopher Newport University
in Newport News, Virginia.
Dimitrov is a member of the Club of Madrid
, an independent non-profit organization composed of 81 democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 57 different countries.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, Prime Minister of Bulgaria for the short period 1991-1992, MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the 36th (1991-1994), 37th (1994-1997) and the 40th (2005-2007) National Assembly, and MEP from January 2007 to May 2007.
Biography
Dimitrov was born in SofiaSofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, and graduated from the First English High School
First english language school
First English Language School was founded in 1958 in Sofia, Bulgaria as a specialized high school for education of English language as a foreign language to Bulgarian high school students. The school has occupied its current location at 60 Dondukov Street since 1960 and shares it with the 112th...
, Sofia, in 1973. He graduated with a law degree from Sofia University
Sofia University
The St. Clement of Ohrid University of Sofia or Sofia University is the oldest higher education institution in Bulgaria, founded on 1 October 1888...
in 1977, and then undertook further study in the field of individual and group psychotherapy
Group psychotherapy
Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group...
using the psycho-dynamic approach
Psychodynamic psychotherapy
Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a form of depth psychology, the primary focus of which is to reveal the unconscious content of a client's psyche in an effort to alleviate psychic tension. In this way, it is similar to psychoanalysis. It also relies on the interpersonal relationship between client...
. He worked as an attorney in Sofia between 1979 and 1990, serving as Secretary of the Bulgarian Attorneys' Union from 1989 onwards. Bulgarian media had suggested that his office served as a Communist-era secret police hideout. He reacted immediately by giving the first order, in spite of reluctance from his allies, to reveal information on each citizen request about whether there was any data of his/her links with the secret police.
Political career
Dimitrov was active in the Union of Democratic ForcesUnion of Democratic Forces (Bulgaria)
The Union of Democratic Forces is a political party in Bulgaria, founded in 1989 as a union of several political organizations in opposition to the communist government. In February 1997 the Union was transformed into a single unified party with the same name...
, a broad coalition against continued rule by the Bulgarian Communist Party
Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and Marxist-Leninist ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a communist state...
. He became a member of its National Coordination Council in 1990, and was its chair from December that year until December 1994. He has been a member of the Executive Council of the UDF since February 1997.
Dimitrov became Prime Minister of Bulgaria in 1991, but remained in office for only about a year, after losing a vote of confidence that he called for himself. During its term of office (until the end of 1992), his government managed to make the new democratic institutions work and started an ambitious set of democratic political and economic reforms. Under his administration, observance of human rights became an irrevocable legal and ethical norm and previous ethnic tensions and abuses were eliminated. Foreign policy focused on integration into Europe and the West. Bulgaria was the first country to recognize Macedonia unconditionally as a sovereign state. His government allowed the possibility for a free market system, which literally changed most Bulgarian cities within half a year. He insisted on the large-scale restitution of nationalized properties, although he himself had none, and his government made the first practical steps allowing citizens to re-claim property that had been confiscated by the state.
Dimitrov is directly responsible for the collapse of the Bulgarian agriculture after 1991 by restoring the land of the state-owned cooperative farms to its legitimate owners immediately instead of allowing a gradual transition from state-owned to private-owned agriculture. The problem was that all of these owners were old people, who received small pieces of land, and they had no machinery and physical strength to cultivate these lands. The infrastructure of the cooperative farms (water systems, machines, buildings etc.) was left without any supervision, and it was quickly destroyed and stolen. The actions of Dimitrov had a devastating effect for the Bulgarian agriculture. The production of agritultural goods collapsed, many people in the agriculture sector became unemployed, and the population in the Bulgarian villages dropped. His government made possible the swift restitution of citizenship and property rights for all Jewish Bulgarian emigrants.
He served in the 36th, 37th, and 40th legislatures of the National Assembly, having been elected in Sofia for the UDF on each occasion. In 2005, he was elected Deputy Speaker of the 40th National Assembly. He authored or introduced among other bills the Bill for Abolition of Mandatory Military Service and (several times) bills on preventing and sanctioning Conflict of Interest. He was a member of the Bulgarian Parliament Delegation for Relations with the European Parliament. In January through June 2007 he was a member of the European Parliament and Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.
His inability to compromise led to vetoing his candidacy both for President (fall of 2006) and Leader of the list of candidates for the European parliament (spring of 2007). In spite of his quiet withdrawal, the UDF lost both elections heavily. He was rejected by the government as a candidate for the position of Judge at the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (fall of 2007). In July 2008, he declared that he is voluntarily leaving politics for good.
In April 1997 he was appointed Ambassador of Bulgaria at the UN, New York and from August 1998 to January 2002 he was Ambassador of Bulgaria to the US. In 2004 he was a Special Envoy of the President of the CSCE for Armenia and Azerbaijan. He was a visiting scholar in the Woodrow Wilson Center in 2003. Philip Dimitrov has taught political sciences in the American University in Bulgaria since 2002. Member of the Madrid Club of Former heads of State and Government. In 2004 he was Senior member of the NED-CLS team for democratic experience exchange with Georgia. He is member of the Board of the New Bulgarian University, Honorary Chairman of the board of the George Marshal Association – Bulgaria and Program Director at the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Development In September 1999, Mr. Dimitrov was granted the Truman-Reagan Freedom Award for his contribution to overcoming Communism. During the 2008-2009 academic year, Dimitrov holds a position as a visiting professor at Christopher Newport University
Christopher Newport University
Christopher Newport University, or CNU, is a public liberal arts university located in Newport News, Virginia, United States. CNU is the youngest comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia...
in Newport News, Virginia.
Dimitrov is a member of the Club of Madrid
Club of Madrid
The Club de Madrid is an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. Composed of 80 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 56 countries, the Club de Madrid is the world’s largest forum of former Heads of State and Government.Among...
, an independent non-profit organization composed of 81 democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 57 different countries.
Publications
For They Lived, Oh Lord - a novel, 1991 (The Balkans in the first half of the 14th century) The True Story of the Round Table Knights, 1997 The Myths of Bulgarian Transition, 2002 Light of Men, 2003 (The history of the early church)- Jumping into the Atlantic, Woodrow Wilson Center, 2003 The New Democracies and the Transatlantic Link, 2004