Kristian Ivanov Vigenin ( bg, Кристиан Иванов Вигенин; born 12 June 1975) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n politician, member of the Bulgarian Parliament, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, and a former

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

. He became minister on May 29, 2013 in the cabinet of

Plamen Oresharski Plamen Vasilev Oresharski ( bg, Пламен Василев Орешарски ; born 21 February 1960) is a Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2013 to 2014. Previously Oresharski was Minister of Finance from 2005 ...

, where he served until the new government took office on August 6, 2014. In the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, Mr. Vigenin was a member of the

Coalition for Bulgaria The BSP for Bulgaria ( bg, БСП за България, BSP za Bŭlgariya), or the Coalition for Bulgaria ( bg, Коалиция за България, Koalitsiya za Bŭlgariya) until 2017, is a left-wing electoral alliance in Bulgaria led by t ...

, part of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom. ...

, and became an MEP on 1 January 2007 with the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union.

Early life and education

Born in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, Vigenin received Bachelor's degree in International Economics and Macroeconomics at the

University of National and World Economy The University of National and World Economy ( bg, Университет за национално и световно стопанство) is a university in Sofia, Bulgaria. Notable alumni of the university are five Prime Ministers of Bulga ...

in 1998. He is fluent in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and his native Bulgarian.

Political career

Early political career

Vigenin's political career began in 1994 while still a student in his alma mater. During that time, he became a founder of the Bulgarian Socialist Youth and served three consecutive terms in office, until 2000. From March 1999 to March 2001 Vigenin served as senior expert on the European Union Integration Directorate of the Bulgarian Customs Agency. In 2000 Kristian Vigenin was elected to the Supreme Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and in the end of 2001 became a member of the Executive Bureau of the Party. Since 2003, he was a full member of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations ...

and a member of the

, since 2005. Following his membership in BSP, Vigenin was elected as Member of Parliament from

Yambol Yambol ( bg, Ямбол ) is a town in Southeastern Bulgaria and administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. It is occasionally spelled ''Jambol''. Yambol is the ad ...

and the same year became a member of the

. After May 2007, Vigenin was elected as MEP and was a winner of his re-election in 2009.

Ukraine

On November 9, 2013, Vigenin traveled to Odessa, Ukraine where he met with

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

Leonid Kozhara and

Prime Minister of Ukraine The prime minister of Ukraine ( uk, Прем'єр-міністр України, ) is the head of government of Ukraine. The prime minister presides over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of th ...

Mykola Azarov Mykola Yanovych Azarov ( uk, Мико́ла Я́нович Аза́ров, ; né Pakhlo; Cyrillic: Пахло; born 17 December 1947) is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 11 March 2010 to 27 January 2014. He was t ...

. In December of the same year, Vigenin again visited Ukraine. That month he spoke at the Ukrainian capital

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

, the

Helsinki Accords The Helsinki Final Act, also known as Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration was the document signed at the closing meeting of the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland, between ...

and Helsinki+40 Process which was discussed in Dublin in 2012.

European Union

On July 3, 2014, Kristian Vigenin met with

Ivica Dačić Ivica Dačić ( sr-cyr, Ивица Дачић, ; born 1 January 1966) is a Serbian politician serving as first deputy prime minister of Serbia and minister of foreign affairs since 2022, roles which he previously served under governments of Mirk ...

, the Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs. The two discussed a plan on how to built the

South Stream South Stream (russian: Южный поток, Yuzhnyy potok; bg, Южен поток, Yuzhen potok; sr, / ; sl, Južni tok; hu, Déli Áramlat; it, Flusso Meridionale) was a canceled pipeline project to transport natural gas of the Russia ...

gas pipeline, a plan which was later called off due to the Russian actions in Eastern Ukraine. The same year, he met with the Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Titus Corlățean and discussed the possible integration of Republics of Moldova and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, the

EU Association Agreement A European Union Association Agreement or simply Association Agreement (AA) is a treaty between the European Union (EU), its Member States and a non-EU country that creates a framework for co-operation between them. Areas frequently covered by su ...

and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Prior to the 2014 meeting, they discussed the same issues in August 2013 at the

Foreign Affairs Council The Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) is a configuration of the Council of the European Union that convenes once a month. Meetings bring together the foreign ministers of the member states. Ministers responsible for European affairs, defence, developm ...

, during which, besides those issues, the two also discussed

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, with special focus on

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and Syria.

References

External links

*
Biography at the website of the Bulgarian government
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigenin, Kristian 1975 births Coalition for Bulgaria MEPs Foreign ministers of Bulgaria Living people MEPs for Bulgaria 2007 MEPs for Bulgaria 2007–2009 MEPs for Bulgaria 2009–2014 People from Sofia University of National and World Economy alumni