Petar Vitanov

Peter Bojkov Vitanov (Bulgarian: Петър Бойков Витанов, Pet'r Bojkov Vitanov, born 18 April 1982) is a Bulgarian politician and a former member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party who was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2019.

Upon his election as an MEP, Vitanov was selected as the leader of the BSP delegation in the European Parliament, which was criticised at the 2019 Congress by some members who claimed he was too inexperienced.

After the 2019 Bulgarian local elections Vitanov alerted the European Parliament about potential irregularities within the election process.

During the discussion of a "Just Transition"- the EU mechanism for the phaseout of fossil fuels by 2050- Vitanov made a number of amendments as the primary speaker for the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, which were meant to foster social mobility and equality between national producers.

Upon the granting of funds for Bulgaria through the "Next Generation" Plan, Vitanov accused the Third Borisov Government of not having a plan for how to invest the funds, and for not defending Bulgaria's interest in the European Council.

Later, during the September protests calling for the resignation of the Borisov government, Vitanov voted in favour of a report compiled by LIBE, which condemned the Bulgarian government's handling of the protests.

In November, 2020, Vitanov criticised the Borisov government's handling of relations with North Macedonia, claiming they had "missed an opportunity" to better relations through the "Treaty for Good-Neighbourly Relations".

He further criticised the government's handling of the COVID-pandemic, claiming that the government's poor planning led to Bulgaria having the lowest rate of vaccination in the EU.

In April, 2021, Vitanov accused the acting government of Borisov of approaching the "Plan for Recovery and Sustainability" irresponsibly, excluding measures to do with tourism, as well as lowering emission in transportation.

After the release of a European Commission report highlighting high levels of corruption in Bulgaria, Vitanov described it as "expected" and called for steps to be taken to implement judicial reform.

Vitanov alerted the LIBE commission after the release of videos showcasing alleged acts of police brutality during the summer protests against the Borisov Government.

In October 2021, Vitanov initiated a nonbinding resolution in which a majority of the European Parliament called for a ban on police use of facial recognition technology in public places, and on predictive policing.

During the discussion of the "Green Deal" by the European Parliament, Vitanov submitted amendments meant to insure that European airlines remained competative, gas prices remained affordable and heating accessible.

He further supported a lowering of the tax on Electric Vehicles.

Petar Vitanov voted against a resolution which would have made Russia "a sponsor of terrorism", arguing that it eliminated the possibility of negotiations.

Despite being expelled from the Bulgarian Socialist Party, Vitanov remained a member of the Socialists & Democrats Group in the EU parliament and also remained the head of the Bulgarian socialist delegation within the EU Parliament.

In parliament, Vitanov served on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Committee on Transport and Tourism.

In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of parliament's delegations to the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Partnership Committee, the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee, and to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.

He is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights.

On 20 July, in an interview to BNT, Vitanov expressed his view that the election results of the Bulgarian Socialist Party in the July 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election that "no socialist was satisfied with the election results" and called for "a deep analysis of the results" at an upcoming party meeting.

After the meeting of the National Council, Vitanov expressed the view that BSP must do more to work together with the "anti-corruption forces"- especially, Rumen Radev and the First Yanev Government- and undertake "ideological changes" to attract younger voters.

Vitanov- together with 5 other MEPs from Bulgaria- signed a declaration following Ninova's implication that BSP should not support Radev in the second round of the 2021 Bulgarian Presidential elections, calling for a "national voter mobilization" in support of Radev.

Soon after, Vitanov joined 64 other members of the BSP National Council who signed in favour of holding the Extraordinary Congress before Christmas, instead of as scheduled (on January 22).

Vitanov expressed some reservations about BSP's participation in the Petkov Government, stating that it was important that BSP "do not loose their identity" while participating in a "right-liberal government".

Before the January 2022 Congress, Vitanov expressed hope that the Congress would be "the beginning of a new direction for the party" and criticised Ninova for "making BSP the breeding ground for future Vazrazhdane voters due to spreading anti-European, nationalist and anti-vaxx messages".

Vitanov called on the party to focus more on combatting income inequality within society and to unify behind "younger figures and new ideas".

Despite the failure of the motion to accept Ninova's resignation, Vitanov claimed that "change within the Bulgarian Socialist Party is inevitable" and called the decision of the Congress "a mistake".

After a visit to Berlin, to meet with members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Vitanov lamented that BSP had "fallen out" from the rest of "the socialist progressive family", but that he and others were working to return BSP to its "rightful place".

In June, 2022, Vitanov consistenly called on BSP to stop "conflicts" with President Radev.

Upon the fall of the Petkov government, he insisted that new elections were the best avenue, and that BSP must "come into them with ideological clarity".

After the 2022 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Vitanov signed a joint statement with Bulgarian MEPs Elena Yoncheva and Sergei Stanishev calling on Kornelia Ninova to resign as Chairwoman of the party.

Vitanov further condemned the decision of BSP to vote in favour of the return of paper ballots on 15 November 2022.

During the emergency BSP conference on 10 February, the BSP leadership led by Kornelia Ninova motioned for Petar Vitanov's exclusion from the party- among with 20 other members of the "internal opposition".

During the Congress, Vitanov made a statement demanding Ninova's resignation, if it did not take place he believed a "revolution" was inevitable.

After the failure of the motion in favour of Ninova's resignation, Vitanov accused the current leadership of manipulating the votes.

Afterwards, Vitanov joined a group of around 200 delegates who left the Congress in protest.

As a consequence of the Congress, Vitanov was expelled from BSP, among with 13 others.

Vitanov promised to challenge his expulsion in court.

In an interview on 14 February, Vitanov stated that in his view he was expelled due to his criticism of the current parties leadership.

In a further interview, Vitanov called the decision to expel him "repressive" and criticised BSP for "causing concern" within the European left with their "anti-European agenda".